Hiking at Mount Rainier

1. I did a hike near Mount Rainier with some friends yesterday.  It was a spectacular day, fine and warm.  There was still an unusual amount of snow around for late August...a snowy winter was followed by a long, cold spring.  The old snowbanks have been eroded by melting and evaporation into surrealistic patterns.

This snow mosaic is at an elevation of only about 6000 feet. ..on the 24th of August.  Some of this snow may not melt before the first batch of autumn covers it.

An alpine tarn is bordered by boreal forest not far from the timberline.  Noble fir and Englemann spruce predominate (I think).

Another fine view of a lake.  The country on this hike, the Naches loop, is spectacular even by mountain standards!

Speaking of spectacular, The Mountain had a double cap cloud over the summit for most of the day.  Rainier never fails to awe me with its massive dominance of the landscape.  I visit almost every year, and always take a ton of pictures.  Of course, with the changing weather, the scene is a little different every day.

An old snowbank holds out against the August sun. 

Another shot of The Mountain, fronted by boreal forest.