Mt Rainier National Park…

When in the Bellevue/Seattle area, one of the more spectacular sites is seeing the great Mount Rainier looming in the distance looking over the city and its environs.   We visited Mount Rainier National Park and hopefully the mountain will cooperate and stay away from the clouds. Mt. Rainier National Park is located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state about a 90 minute ride from where we were staying (Eileen’s daughter’s house).  It was established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States.   The mountain rises abruptly from the surrounding land with elevations in the park ranging from 1,600 feet (490 m) to over 14,000 feet which is the highest point in the Cascade Range. Around it are valleys, waterfalls, subalpine wildflower meadows, old growth forest and more than 25 glaciers. The volcano is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow on the peak every year and hide it from the crowds that head to the park on weekends. On this visit we were very lucky as the mountain (volcano) decided to stay out and allow us to shoot her.  About 1.8 million people visit Mount Rainier National Park each year. Mount Rainier is a popular peak for mountain climbing with some 10,000 attempts per year with approximately 50% making it to the summit. No way we were attempting the climb!

Below are some images from our trip. Remember to click on any one of the images to see slide show!

Enjoy!