Karen and Tom Wanderings

With unusually hot weather in the Seattle area, we opted to avoid the (sunny) high country for our now weekly hike.  Instead, we headed back to the NW corner of Mt Rainier for a walk in the temperate rainforest along the Carbon River to Green Lake.  This was a return trip for Tom, having done it decades prior, but it turns out his memory had faded.  The first few miles were along an old road, abandoned many years ago by the repeated flood damage caused by the unruly Carbon River.  But even this road section of the hike is inside the Park, so the ancient forest was intact.  The trail itself winds uphill through big (but gradually smaller) stands of trees, by a lovely waterfall, up to the totally unremarkable lake.  It was all very lush and the old-growth forest worked its calming magic on our souls.  And the heat wasn't too bad, either, though jumping in the stream upon our return to the road did momentarily cross our minds. Rainforest Hiking Foamflo...

As the summer hiking season started getting serious, we headed to our beloved Mt Rainier National Park for a new hike for us ... Crystal Peak.  We'd been to nearby Crystal Lakes before, but decided to try the more difficult route to the peak.  We didn't have very high expectations, but the flowers and views had our jaws dragging on the ground.  WOW!!  More bear grass than we've ever seen ... started out a bit spotty and just kept getting more and more and more prolific!  Literally laughing out loud!  Great views of The Mountain and the surrounding peaks from the trail and the summit.  Making it to the peak pushed us to near our limit, but we made it, and made it down, too!  No significant bugs, and joyous sunshine!!     Karen in Beargrassville Bear grass and Mt Rainier Upper Crystal Lake Western Wallflower Indian Paintbrush and Mt Rainier Prolific Bear Grass More Photos