Mt. Rainier

"The most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain-top wanderings."-John Muir

After getting my fill of Olympic, I felt it almost necessary to stop at Mt. Rainier. It's prominence and majesty loom over everything around it. Free camping on a forest service road just outside of the park allowed me to get an early start and maximize my adventuring time.

The aptly named Reflection Lake

The rolling meadows of wildflowers and critters below the mountain were spectacular. The paved "trails" and hordes of visitors were not so spectacular, which motivated me to hike to higher ground.

Mt. Adams in the distance

Someone asked if I wanted a photo of me and Rainier. Why not? Two thumbs up ol' chap.

For most of my hike, I followed exposed rock to the right of the trail that led to Camp Muir. It was much quieter and solitude was achieved. Unfortunately, around 8,000 feet I was forced onto the snow and into the queue of climbers making their way to the top. To my relief, crampons were not required.

After just over 4 miles with 3,000 feet of elevation gain within the last mile, I made it to Camp Muir, which serves as the most popular base camp used when making a bid for the summit. Camp Muir sits at 10,000 feet elevation, leaving 4,000 more feet between you and the summit. Given the presence of crevasses, I did not venture any farther. A splendid adventure it was!

PS: I've made some updates to the desktop version of the blog template. Feel free to tell me if it sucks.