Road Trip, Day 2: Mt Rainier National Park

What a day, from top to bottom. Got a "late start" but it didn't really matter. Our goal was Sunrise Visitor's Center at the top (opposite end) of the park. Thankfully, the weather was clear and we appreciated the grand majesty of Rainier ALL DAY.

On our way, we stopped at the Reflection Lakes to see if the waters were calm enough for a reflection. We got partial cooperation and then hopped back on the road to Sunrise.

Upon reaching our destination, we did the short, super-quick Emmons Vista Trail - giving us some volcanic wildflowers and a view of the Emmons Glacier, albeit from afar. These glaciers are amazing - they are massive and at their terminus, they are often debris-covered and hard to spot.

After brunch, we decided to check out another nearby trail to see the Emmons Moraine up close. It looked pretty tame on the map but it turned out to be a beast of a trail. Uphill most of the way and at one point, we were walking on compacted glacier flour in the one-person-at-a-time small skinny trail, with a semi-sheer drop off on one side. Plus what looked like a solid wall for purchase for the unsteady was indeed dissolving under my fingertips.

I'm not a big fan of heights and unstable surfaces and when they are combined, I am not thrilled. I got a little freaked out but I made it. And it was TOTALLY worth the view.

It was a little longer and slightly more strenuous than we had planned. However, there were SO many waterfalls filled with snow run-off that acted like natural air-conditioining vents as you passed them.

We also noticed that glacier run off was cloudy gray water, but the snow run-off was crystal clear... the dichotomy was never so clear as when they mixed:

From there, we headed back to Tipsoo Lake in hopes of getting a beautiful Rainier reflection in the water, but alas the steady cooling breeze that delighted us earlier on our hike cursed us at this stop. Instead we were rewarded with beautiful views of the mountain and wildflowers and many, many bug bites.

Being later in the day than planned and this author was getting a bit worn out, we skipped the Grove of the Patriarchs (in Ohanapecosh) and headed straight back to Paradise to hike the Nisqually Vista Trail Loop, in order to see the Nisqually Glacier "up close". A fairly tame loop and a close up deer sighting plus a fascinating view of the glacier made it totally worth it!

We then headed back to Paradise Inn for a luxurious dinner of chicken parmesan (me) and ribeye steak (L). We came back to camp and enjoyed a rip-roaring campfire before retiring for the night.

I also attempted my first try at star trails (long exposures that capture the stars and the Earth's movement) using the bulb setting on my camera (leaves the shutter open for as long as I desire) and the car as a tripod.

I can definitely do better, and had slightly the wrong settings on my camera - but not bad for a first stab.

You can find the rest of the 60-odd Rainier Day 2 photos here.

You can find all the photos from the trip here.

More to come soon - I had the first three days pre-written, so I'll slow down eventually.