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| "...the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain-top wanderings." -John Muir, conservationist, 1889 |
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| Started the paved trail of the skyline trail....don't worry ii is not all paved! |
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| James and Mt. Rainier |
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| Me and Mt. Rainier |
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| Wildflowers were in bloom in the meadows. |
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| James and Jennifer |
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| First of many snowfields! |
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| James and I taking in the scenery! |
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| Beautiful waterfall on Mt. Rainier. (left in above picture) |
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| Ah, such beauty! |
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| James and Jennifer admiring the views. |
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| "Steep & Icy Trail Conditions" |
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| We headed down the snowfield from that upper ledge. |
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| Crossing the snowfield. |
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| It was steep coming from the above ledge but quickly mellowed out. |
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| This was the snowfield we just crossed. |
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| Marmot.....I assume it was trying to cool off as it was over 80 degrees F today. |
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| Perfect spot for a snack. |
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| From this part of the trail you could view Little Tahoma. |
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| Proof anything can happen on the trail. I took a fall after loosing my footing on some scree on the way down the hill. |
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| Even with the sting of pain from my recently acquired wounds I'm still smiling......because it's so beautiful out here it's hard not too! |
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| Last view of Rainier for the day. |
After an amazing morning at the Rainier Mountain Festival my friends and I decided to enjoy a hike. We had already agreed upon hiking the Skyline Loop Trail in the Paradise area of Mt. Rainier National Park. Although the weather was quite warm the scenery was beautiful. I did take a fall with approximately a mile and a half left to hike. It was painful but not unbearable and I was able to hike the rest of the way without assistance. Once we got back to the car I cleaned my wounds and provided basic first aid until I could get home. When we left the park we stopped for dinner and some delicious Blackberry pie. Despite my minor injuries it couldn't have been a more perfect day.
Click on link to check out my blog from earlier in the day at the
Rainier Mountain Festival.
Start time: 1:59pm
End time: 5:49pm
Total time: 3 hours 50 minutes
Distance: 5.69 miles
Speed: 1.4 miles/hour
Peak Elevation: 6,789 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,258 ft
Total Ascent: 2,487 ft
Total Descent: 2,583 ft
* Please note, I started my GPS a bit after I started hiking so the trail is actually a bit longer. WTA estimates it at 6 miles. All information posted is based off my GPS.
Directions: From Tacoma, drive east on State Route 7 to Elbe, then veer left onto SR 706 to enter the park at the Nisqually Entrance near Ashford. Continue east along the Nisqually Road to the Paradise Lodge parking area. Park in the large parking lot and find the trail near Paradise Lodge.
Links:
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/skyline
http://www.rainierfestival.com/
The dreaded "ball-bearing effect" one of my old climb partners called loose rock...beautiful scenery. Someday I'd like to make it up there. Have only run into a Marmot once, sunning itself half way up Cathedral Peak-Yosemite. Great post, I've finally figured out how to do it, and have added a link at my page...so hopefully more people will check out your cool pics and hikes.
ReplyDelete@ Larry......Glad to hear you're enjoyed the post, and thanks for helping to spread the word.
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