Category: Mt. Rainier

While I didn’t see a lot of wildlife on Mt. Rainier, particularly the ones I most wanted to see, I did enjoy those I did see. Most of the wildlife pictures I took were in camp the first four hours, before Tyson and his family, and host of other people, arrived at the camp.

I was greeted by this Stellar Jay at the entrance to Cougar Rock Campground

but I didn’t notice until I brought it up on the computer that it had been tagged, as indicated by the metal band on his leg.

Strangely, the only other bird I saw in camp, this Gray Jay (aka Robber Jay)

was also banded. Perhaps that explains why they were actually quite shy, particularly for a Robber Jay, one of the boldest birds I’ve ever observed previously.

Although I saw several Stellar Jays in the three days we were there, the only other bird I observed was another favorite, a Varied Thrush,

the first time I’ve ever observed one in its native habitat, and outside my backyard.

Although I would really have loved to get a picture of the foxes and bears that all the campground signs said not to feed, all I managed to get a picture of was this chipmunk, who seemed content to find all of his own food:

In another year, when we could get closer to the mountain, I’m sure I could have gotten a picture of a Pika or even a Mountain Goat, but I certainly saw more wildlife than I would have seen if I’d stayed home typing on this computer.

Unless there’s a real heat wave in the near future, I suspect there are going to be an awful lot of disappointed Mt. Rainier lovers because there’s so much snow

at Paradise that the flower meadows are, to say the least, disappointing. And from what I was told, it’s even less promising at Sunrise on the north side of the mountain.

There were so few areas free of snow that I wondered if the rangers had actually cleared some snow so that there would at least be meadows directly around the visitors center. So, for instance, we were able to enjoy the lupine

and Veronica

while we ate our lunch on the patio. There was even one small Indian Paintbrush showing, but I found the best displays far below Paradise

,

while walking beside the road. In fact, I would venture to say that the very best flower displays were along the lower roadways. If I hadn’t been following Tyson and Jen, I would have stopped and gotten some shots of beautiful Tiger Lilies I saw beside the road on the way home.

Some of the best flowers could also be found along the trails, where I found a long stretch of Bluebells,

and even more impressive, white banks covered in delicate Avalanche Lilies.

Down at Longmire, we ran into fields full of bright yellow “dandellions” and Daisies,

which seemed to best reflect the day’s sunshine.

Summer must surely be here. After a rather dull early summer, I’ve spent most of the last two weeks in nearby National Parks soaking up sunshine. I spent Wednesday through Friday of last week on Mt. Rainier camping with Tyson and his family. We couldn’t have asked for better weather.

And the mountain was cloaked in its best finery due to a record Spring snowfall. Though the snow made walking on trails more difficult than usual, it seemed like a fair tradeoff when taking photos, and I took photos of the mountain from many different angles, especially since Leslie generally favors the northern approach to the mountain while Jen chose the southern approach, through Paradise.

Wherever we went Rainier’s presence was palpable. We day hiked to Reflection Lake from Narada Falls, the furthest East I got this trip, and despite the distance, the mountain seemed to surround us.

On our way up and back from Paradise, I repeatedly pulled off at scenic turnouts to try to capture the “best” view of the mountain,

even though I was perfectly aware from past experiences that there is no “best view” of Rainier.

That knowledge certainly didn’t stop me from constantly trying to get a better picture than those I’d gotten before. This one

seems to me to capture the sheer massiveness of Rainier better than the others.

Strangely, at least to me, my least favorite shots of the mountain itself were those I took from Paradise, the point where mountain climbers regularly start their assault on this formidable peak.

Ironically my favorite shots of Rainier have actually been taken less than a mile away from my home here in Tacoma. Sometimes you need some distance to see their true nature, which is not to say that I would have preferred to be home than on the mountain. No, it was a delightful three days, and I love the mountain more the more I experience it. Up there you experience the mountain not just see it.

Rainier is a formidable mountain, its towering peaks and its imposing glaciers nothing short of awe-inspiring, which makes it all the more remarkable that it’s often the fragile beauty that leaves the most immediate impression on you during a late summer visit.

My personal favorite would have to be Indian Paintbrush in all it’s vivid incarnations,

but it’s equally impossible to ignore waves of purple flowers cascading down steep rocky cliffs.

How can anything as delicate as the small butterflies one sees everywhere find sustenance here

or endure long, bitter winters.

One can’t help but feel sympathy for chipmunks that seem to savor the plentiful flowers

but are forced to forage for food in the snow for at least half the year.