I just love the winding road that goes up through the mountains, dark shaded woods, by waterfalls, and along the river bed going up to Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier is such a beautiful place. This is our third visit. It was a bright blue day, so a perfect day for it. My only regret is that there wasn’t as much snow on top as it was in 2010. One of the first and most popular overlooks offers steps down to the river bottom and across the rocks for a great view of the mountain over the trees along the riverbank. Naturally, we had to go out there again! Love to make the comparisons in the snow top and our clothes showing the weather. Picture 1 & 2 – 2008.
Picture 3 & 4 – 2010.
Picture 5 & 6 - 2014.
There are many views of the top of Mt. Rainier from the road as you drive all the way to the top. Yes, I have now have 3 of the same shot, different years! Plus, this is one spectacular overlook that gives you the best view of all! It is certainly hard to beat!
Mount Rainier is a massive volcano located 54 miles southeast of Seattle. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the lower 48, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft. Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list. Because of its large amount of glacial ice, Mt. Rainier could potentially devastate the whole Puyallup River valley. Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington and the Cascade Range. Mount Rainier is ranked third of the 128 ultra-prominent mountain peaks of the United States. On clear days it dominates the southeastern horizon in most of the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area to such an extent that locals sometimes refer to it simply as "the Mountain. On days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Portland, OR, and Victoria, British Columbia. We did indeed see that from our cruise ship when we took the Inside Passage to Alaska in 2010.
With 26 major glaciers and 36 square miles of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak also in the lower 48 states. The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each more than 1,000 feet in diameter, with the larger east crater overlapping the west crater. Geothermal heat keeps areas of both crater rims free of snow and ice, and has formed the world's largest volcanic glacier cave network within the ice-filled craters, with nearly 2 mi of passages. The current name was given by George Vancouver, who named it in honor of his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. The map of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806 refers to it as "Mt. Regniere". The volcano is a relatively young volcano, only about 500,000 years old. By contrast the mountains of the Cascade Range that Mount Rainier looks down upon are at least 12 million years old! The last estimated eruption was between 1820 and 1894.
View at the top at the visitor center. Now, note the difference this year from 2010. Look at all that snow! It was a beautiful sight!
This year, I finally took the time to hike to an upper meadow to waterfalls and just a gorgeous display of mountain wildflowers! Doug wasn’t able to go. All along the way you saw the mountain side covered in wildflowers. So pretty! Then with the view of Mt. Rainier, the waterfall, and the flowers, it was pure alpine beauty. As John Muir said it in this carving in the steps to the trails:
I absolutely loved it up there! So glad I went! No wonder this is my favorite mountain! Ahh….what a pleasant day as we drove back to the campground. This visit is one I won’t soon forget.
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