The Ohanapecosh River flows through the southeastern side of the park, and is a beautiful aquamarine blue color.

Mt. Rainier (14,410 ft) is a beautiful volcanic peak located in the Cascade Range, southeast of Seattle.  The mountain often receives huge amounts of snow during winter, and there was still a lot of snow in the park for our July 4 weekend visit.  Between snow on the trails and thick clouds covering the mountain, much of our hiking was restricted to forest walks.  Still, the waterfalls were spectacular at this time of year, and we (well, some of us) had great views of the mountain as we were driving back to Seattle through the park.

Mt. Rainier with icy Reflection Lake

I liked the look of bright spring green leaves against towering evergreen trunks.  The park is full of impressive big trees, mainly Douglas fir and western redcedar.

Narada Falls was huge when we visited!  It was difficult to get pictures through the spray, which quickly soaked me and my camera:

Nisqually River

Massive flooding in 2006 caused extensive damage along the riverbank.  Bridges were washed out all over the park, and are mostly not yet repaired.

Hunter and Eileen

just Hunter

the river was flowing very fast

dewy pine needles

We stayed at Alexander's Country Inn, very close to the Nisqually Entrance (southwest side of the park).  The Inn had its own trout pond, providing fresh fish for the restaurant.

The Inn, with waterwheel out front, and two deer.

For most of the weekend, the mountain was completely fogged in.  We tried the hike to Comet Falls, but turned back when conditions got too misty.

The view from Comet Falls trail

Christine Falls

Hunter and snow cave along the Comet Falls Trail

Silver Falls

Mt. Adams in the distance

June is on the lookout for marmots, I think

Eileen, Whitney, June, and Hunter, view of Rainier at Sunset Pt

The End.  Click here for more pictures.      | more rainier | travel | eileen home

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The whole group at Alexander's

Hoary marmot by the road!!

A frozen lake, view from Sunset Pt

Hunter, Whitney, June, Eileen, and the view approaching Sunset Point

Hunter checking out the view from on top of Reflection Lake.

Silver Falls.  The clouds were just beginning to burn off!

View of the falls from above

The Ohanapecosh River, from a tall bridge

Hunter and Tom scrambling on rocks above Silver Falls

Tom, Janis, Whitney, and June checking out Silver Falls

Sunday we hiked along the Ohanapecosh River, to Silver Falls.

Hunter and another snow cave -->

Stopping by the road to look at a waterfall.  The mountains are mostly obscured by clouds.

Rocks with melting snow on Comet Falls Trail

hot tub, with view of the trout pound

The trout pond

 Hunter helped me improve the scenery for this shot :)

 <-- A waterfall along the Rampart Ridge Trail. 

beargrass flowers

Tom and Janis

Thursday and Friday we took short hikes in the area around Rampart Ridge and the Nisqually River.