There are several ways to approach Mt Rainier. Most people come in through the southwestern
corner and head to the region known as Paradise. That is where we’ve been most of our stay,
but today we took the two hour drive around the mountain to the northeastern
section of Mt Rainier known as Sunrise. Lots of switchbacks, cliffs, and elevation
changes along the way, but the scenery was great as the road was designed to
take advantage of the view.
We were told that the subalpine flowers at Sunrise were near peak, so we are glad we had
an opportunity to be there at this time. The fields and even exposed rocky
outcrops were filled with color.
We stopped at Emmons Vista.
We were warned about bears in the area and someone we met on
the trail saw one 10 minutes prior, but we didn’t see any as we made our way to
Glacier Overlook, where we had our lunch.
Following a ranger recommendation, Bill continued on to Second
Burroughs. It’s far enough from Mt.
Rainier that the whole
mountain is visible, but it feels much closer than the pictures capture – like
you can reach out and touch the mountain. Several glaciers are prominent.
Mt.
Rainer is such a stunning
and dominant feature that it’s easy to overlook beautiful vistas in the opposite
direction. This picture is from the Mt.
Fremont fire lookout.
And on the way back, Frozen Lake.
All in all it was a glorious hike and well worth the trip
around the mountain.
