Today we began our tour of Mount Rainer National Park. We spent the day on the south side of the park. Shortly after we entered the park, we arrived at Longmire. There was a small museum there. One of the displays was a slice from an old growth tree. A count of the rings showed that the tree started growing in 1293, over 700 years ago.
After Longmire, we headed to the Carter and Madcap Falls Trail. On our way, we caught our first glimpse of Mount Rainier. From that time until the end of the day, we saw Mount Rainer from numerous viewpoints.
Our first hike was to Carter and Madcap Falls. At the beginning of the hike, we had to cross a white water stream. The stream is fed by snow melt from Mount Rainer.
We were able to cross the stream on a narrow log bridge. Once we were across the stream, we hiked up to the falls. We saw some interesting sights along the way, including a tree that had grown completely around a large rock.
Carter Falls had the longer drop, but Madcap Falls was interesting because of the way it twists and flows over all of the rocks.
By the time we completed the hike, Mount Rainier had decided to hide behind the clouds.
After the hike, we stopped for lunch at a picnic area. This blue jay seemed to be at home in the picnic area.
On our way to Narada Falls, we stopped and took a short walk to view Christine Falls. The main road goes right by the falls. The stone arch bridge made a nice frame for a picture of the falls.
From Ricksecker Point, we got to see the path of the Nisqually Glacier. You can see the rocky path the glacier has carved. The glacier is active. Over the last 70 years, it has moved up and down the mountain.
At Nirada Falls, we had a short hike to the bottom of the falls. Today, the falls had a bonus rainbow. The falls become quite misty as they reach the gap in the rocks at the bottom of the falls.
There are many places to view Glaciers at Mount Rainer. Glacier Vista is one of the best.
Some waterfalls, like Edith Falls, are only visible from a single point because the water flows through very narrow passages on its way down the mountain.
When you are high up on a mountain, you sometimes need to turn around to get the best views. This was particularly true where the Paradise Review runs through Panorama Point.
We were slightly disappointed when we arrived at Reflection Lake. This lake is famous for the great pictures you can get of Mount Rainer reflecting on the surface of the lake. Today, the clouds and wind left us to look at a very nice mountain lake without the reflection. We did get to see a wide variety of flowers that are shown later on. We also found a bird resting on a tree while it enjoyed its view of the lake.
We stopped at Louise Lake on our way to where the road was closed. The lake was much nicer than the Road Closed sign. There is construction going on during the week. We plan to drive the other end of this road on the weekend.
On our return trip toward the Paradise Inn Hotel, we saw the very large Sluskin Falls. Without a long zoom lens, we would not have been able to get this picture.
Ruby Falls was another waterfall near the road. Part of the waterfall is above the bridge. The other part is below the bridge. It was a bit of a rock scramble to get each of the pictures, but the climb was worth it.
Paradise Washington is part of Mount Rainier. When you see that area, it is not hard to understand why they named it Paradise. Here you can see the mountain view from outside the hotel, and the view we had from our room.
We had a great tour of the southern part of Mount Rainer today. In addition to the spectacular mountain views, we saw a wide selection of flowers. Here is a sample of what we saw. The variety, the abundance, and the colors were terrific.
Tomorrow we will be headed to the eastern side of the park. Because of the closed road, we will be taking a long detour over some less traveled roads.