I CAN'T WAIT!

When Western Washington natives exclaim, "The mountain is out!", they mean that Mount Rainier is visible, and not hiding amongst the frequent clouds, looking like a high mass of clouds itself.

Well, for me and a photo friend, not only was The Mountain "out" for us a couple of days ago, but it was "in", "on", and all "around" for us!

This was our first glimpse of Rainier as we drove to Sunrise early on a gorgeous morning, "in" our laps:

We knew we had the ideal weather; it was even shirt-sleeve warm.

Here, from Sunrise, is the Tatoosh Range:

We timed this outing in hopes of seeing the wildflowers still in bloom.

The view, the weather, and yes - the wildflowers - made this

the perfect day:

This is the seedhead for the Pasqueflower, which I think is lovlier than

the bloom itself.  A ranger said they like to call it, "Mouse-in-a-stick"!

This photo is of Yakima Peak, taken from Lake Tipsoo.

It looks like I used a fish-eye lens, but I don't have one of those!  Must be the

perspective; I was on my tummy:

Another Pasqueflower seedhead:

Meet this teeny butterfly, about 1 inch tall.

I call him "Blue Angel":

The more we drove, the more we felt "on" the Mountain:

Lake Tipsoo:

This trip was to be all about wildflowers, so in my following posts, I hope

there will be some of those.  I am only partially along in the viewing of

my photos, but, as I said above, I just couldn't wait to start sharing!