Such luck! Pat and I scheduled a day at Mt. Rainier quite a bit in advance. The day we "drew" had everything in its favor: sunshine, warmth, and - we couldn't have ordered it better - one of the peak wildflower times!
Once we were on The Mountain's narrow, winding road to Paradise (one of two high, end-of-the-road places), we "oooh"-ed and "aahh"-ed at the back-lit beards of moss practically reaching over the road to touch us. They certainly did tickle our fancy!
Our first peek at the Peak. Little did we know the summit would play peek-a-boo with us all day.
Mostly it was shrouded in clouds all day.
Around here we say, "The Mountain is out", or - "not".
That day, it was not, but because our hopes were pinned on seeing wildflowers, that really did not ruin our day at all.
One last telephoto look at a glacier:
An old fire area:
This is upper Christine Falls, on the road to Paradise:
And the lower falls - a study in light and dark - reached by a short but steep walk through the woods:
"Pot 'o Gold!...rather, Pot 'o Silver
at Narada Falls:
Above Paradise, we thought we were in Heaven what with fields upon fields thick with wildflowers.
Part of the Tattoosh Range is in the background:
Mixed bouquets were scattered from below Paradise to the highest alpine meadow:
In all my hiking and return visits on The Mountain, I have never seen lupine in such abundance:
I told Pat as we hiked that it appeared as if a giant had used a spray can of blue to paint the meadows in great arcs and sweeping motions:
Lower Myrtle Falls:
Happy Trails:
We passed a pair of burly hikers on this higher trail, and overheard one guy say to the other in a seriously philosophical way, "I heard that if you stand in meadows like this, close your eyes and inhale, you will be filled with giddy ecstasy." First of all, it gave us a chuckle to hear such sensitive words from a would-be mountain man, and secondly, we certainly didn't have to close our eyes to experience the ecstasy offered by the collective fragrance of sun-warmed wildflowers. It was something one could almost taste, and I did understand, "drink it all in."
A climber's stone hut:
Orange Paintbrush:
Blue gentian - a shy and elusive flower:
Back down the slopes, clouds dipped for a moment:
Tattoosh Range:
White Sitka Valerian:
Mount Rainier's Mariposacopper:
As we departed, darker fog gave an interesting effect to the bright-white mountain:
3 comments:
Lovely!!! I feel like I am right back there, and can almost smell that elusive fragrance wafting to us on the breeze. What a perfect day it was!
How exquisitely beautiful! I must admit to a little jealousy. But, I'm grateful you have presented a different kind of opportunity for me to enjoy such beauty. Thank you for capturing it for us all.
Those wild flowers are amazing! And the last photo was one of my favorites from this post. The atmosphere of the photo made me feel like I could almost hear a wolf howling in the background.
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