Paradise
We decided to skip sunrise this morning, but get an early start to ensure we could find a parking spot at Paradise. We woke up to overcast skies and no sign of Mt. Rainier. As we approached the Paradise Visitor Center, the clouds parted enough to give us a glimpse of Mt. Rainier and some hope. There were plenty of parking spaces at 9:00, so we found a spot where we could sit in the car and watch Mt. Rainier appear through the clouds. By 9:30, nearly all of Mt. Rainier was visible, and we started the short hike up to Myrtle Falls. This is one of our favorite areas because there is a great shot of Mt. Rainier with a small stream and Myrtle Falls in the foreground. Add all the marmots running around in the meadows along the Golden Gate Trail and you have a great place to photograph.
When we reached Myrtle Falls, we had the area to ourselves. That allowed us to shoot Mt. Rainier
from the bridge over Edith Creek
without continually
moving to allow hikers to pass. Mt. Rainier peeked over the ridge, and Edith Creek had enough water to create a cascade in the foreground.
We planned to walk back to the Myrtle Falls Overlook, but a marmot captured our attention and led us away from the stream and into the meadows above.
He had absolutely no fear of people; at least not while he was eating breakfast. He sampled the buffet of meadow grasses and flowers
without any concern about how close he was getting to the people watching from the trail.
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We started up the Golden Gate Trail
where we had seen great wildflowers and lots of marmots when we were here in 2014. This time,
we saw lots of marmots, but very few wildflowers that weren't past their prime blooms. In 2014, this entire area was mostly snow in July,
and was at its prime when we returned the second week in August. This year, the bloom was so early that it's nearly over in July.
We hiked up the Golden Gate Trail until we nearly reached the beginning of the climb up to Skyline Trail. We photographed the Tatoosh Range with some avalanche lilies in the foreground, but we were disappointed with the lack of wildflowers this year. If the wildflowers are already gone, I'm not sure what we'll do when we return to Mt. Rainier in August.
When we hiked back down to Myrtle Falls Overlook, Mt. Rainier was mostly hidden by the clouds. We'll have to return later in the week and try it again.
The clouds persisted throughout the rest of the day. Despite making a couple attempts to find things to shoot in the afternoon and evening,
we came up empty. We had to settle for watching a film at the Visitor Center.
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