Let me just say that having only one full day at Mt. Rainier is nowhere near enough time to enjoy the splendor of the national park. On Thursday, August 23, 2012 we decided to go hiking after waking up fairly early. After much discussion we decided to try our luck on the Skyline Trail heading up to Glacier Vista and Panorama Point. The clouds hung low on the mountain and we hoped to break through the top so that we could view Mt. Rainier which had eluded us for the most part on the way in late Wednesday evening. Our base camp was Paradise Inn which sits at 5,400 feet. Glacier Vista sits at 6,300 feet. In 1.75 miles give or take the 900 foot elevation change was a little challenging. Unfortunately we never made it through the clouds but they made for an interesting, mysterious and sometimes eery backdrop for our hike. I also enjoyed the fact that for the first time in all of my travels to national parks in the western United States there seemed to be an abundance of wildlife.
Wildflowers bloom on the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A deer feeds on grass and wildflowers in the meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A deer feeds on grass and wildflowers in the meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Wildflowers bloom on the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Snow and glacier runoff flows down Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Snow and glacier runoff flows down Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Shrouded in a cloud bank, a marmot sits on a boulder along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Sections of a melting snow field along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Wildflowers bloom before a snow field along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Wildflowers bloom on the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Wildflowers bloom before a snow field along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Hikers climb through the clouds as they walk along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Dead Horse Trail leads directly into a snow field at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Clouds obscure a raven and a trail sign at Glacier Vista inside Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A raven sits perched on a rock at Glacier Vista along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A raven sits perched on a rock at Glacier Vista along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A chipmunk searches for food along the edge of a snow field at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Cloaked in a cloud bank, hikers pause at a fork in the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Hikers walk along the edge of a snow field on Dead Horse Trail as they hike up Mt. Rainier on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Hikers climb the Skyline Trail along the Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Snow fields can be seen along the Cascade Mountains through the low cloud bank at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Hikers walk across a melting snow field along the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
The Skyline Trail overlooks the Cascade Mountains inside Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A melting snow field overlooks the Cascade Mountains along the Skyline Trail on Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Wildflowers bloom in the meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Friday, August 24, 2012.
A cloud bank hangs low in the sky along the Cascade Mountains inside Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A cloud bank hangs low in the sky as a hiker walks the Skyline Trail down Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A deer feeds on grass and wildflowers in the meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
A deer feeds on grass and wildflowers in the meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
The Cascade Mountains surrounding Mt. Rainier inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
The meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier is filled with wildflowers inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
The meadow at the base of Mt. Rainier is filled with wildflowers inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
The sun shines through the trees at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Mt. Rainier is covered by a cloud bank at Reflection Lakes inside the national park in Washington on Thursday, August 23, 2012.