Unlike our day at Mount St. Helens, our day at Mt. Rainier was absolutely clear and the brightest of blues! We drove the breathtaking, cliff-hugging roads up to Paradise. Paradise is the highest point on Mt. Rainier that you can drive to. The whole way up (and the whole time we were up there) we kept oooing and awwwing. Nothing in this world compares to God's creation! I have way too many pictures I would like to share with you. We chose to hike the Skyline Trail that takes you up 1,700 ft. in elevation to a height of 7,000 ft. above sea level. Mt. Rainier is an elevation of 14,411 ft. so we were about half way there. The most amazing thing about this trail is that in just a couple of hours you go from meadow and lush green trees to slate gray rock and snow and back. I think what makes it like paradise is as you walk amongst glaciers and rock you'll turn a corner and there before you is a patch of the greenest plants and brightest flowers growing in and around a flowing stream of the clearest, coldest alpine water. It truly is amazing. We stopped to eat lunch at Panorama Point, from where you could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood. Also at Panorama Point were fearless chipmunks we called "mini-bears." These little creatures were all over Josh's lap with a mission of scoring an Oreo or two. We also saw a few marmots, lots of Indian Paintbrush wildflowers (that go from a bright red-orange to a hot pink as you gain altitude), and many other wildflower species I can't remember the names of. In any case, they were all species you don't see on a regular basis. We were pretty wiped out after our 5.5 mile hike, after which we headed back to our campsite. (Just after starting our descent on the mountain, clouds rolled in and covered the peak. We were so glad we started the day early so that we were towards the top without a cloud in the sky.)
My finger is pointing to Panorama Point where we at lunch. This is where the picture of Josh's leg and the "mini-bear" encounter was taken.
Unlike our day at Mount St. Helens, our day at Mt. Rainier was absolutely clear and the brightest of blues! We drove the breathtaking, cliff-hugging roads up to Paradise. Paradise is the highest point on Mt. Rainier that you can drive to. The whole way up (and the whole time we were up there) we kept oooing and awwwing. Nothing in this world compares to God's creation! I have way too many pictures I would like to share with you. We chose to hike the Skyline Trail that takes you up 1,700 ft. in elevation to a height of 7,000 ft. above sea level. Mt. Rainier is an elevation of 14,411 ft. so we were about half way there. The most amazing thing about this trail is that in just a couple of hours you go from meadow and lush green trees to slate gray rock and snow and back. I think what makes it like paradise is as you walk amongst glaciers and rock you'll turn a corner and there before you is a patch of the greenest plants and brightest flowers growing in and around a flowing stream of the clearest, coldest alpine water. It truly is amazing. We stopped to eat lunch at Panorama Point, from where you could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood. Also at Panorama Point were fearless chipmunks we called "mini-bears." These little creatures were all over Josh's lap with a mission of scoring an Oreo or two. We also saw a few marmots, lots of Indian Paintbrush wildflowers (that go from a bright red-orange to a hot pink as you gain altitude), and many other wildflower species I can't remember the names of. In any case, they were all species you don't see on a regular basis. We were pretty wiped out after our 5.5 mile hike, after which we headed back to our campsite. (Just after starting our descent on the mountain, clouds rolled in and covered the peak. We were so glad we started the day early so that we were towards the top without a cloud in the sky.)
My finger is pointing to Panorama Point where we at lunch. This is where the picture of Josh's leg and the "mini-bear" encounter was taken.
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