Flowers At Mount Rainier!

Flower meadows along the Naches Peak loop at
Mount Rainier National Park.

 If you sense some excitement in my prose, you would be correct!  Flower season in the mountains is so short, because the growing season is so short.  These meadows spend the majority of the year buried under a deep snowpack, and only get to come out to play for a couple months out of the entire year! Different varieties of flowers can have different schedules.  Some years these schedules match for the most part, some years they do not. So when everything starts coming together it is reason to get excited!

At Mount Rainier, the flower show arrived a couple weeks ago in typical fashion - by beginning their tour on the east side of the park around Tipsoo Lake and Sunrise.  While these areas are no longer in peak, others are!  Try a hike up to Spray Park or Indian Henry's Hunting Ground or simply enjoy a short walk/hike around Paradise or Mazama Ridge.  Now is the perfect time!

Please remember to be respectful of the meadows.  The growing season is so short that even the lightest of tread can cause irreparable damage.  As my kid's patches used to say (handed out by the National Park Service), "Don't Be A Flower Stomper!"

This year is even crazier than most.  I spent a weekend morning at Sunrise photographing a couple weeks ago.  When I arrived back at the parking lot shortly after 7 am, it was already full.  By 8:30 am, the entrance was already closed and there were cars lined up for a quarter of a mile!  (By comparison, I came up the very next day - a weekday, and it was quite the opposite).  With this increase in traffic comes an increase of pressure on such fragile environments, which we all should be cognizant of.

Flower meadows at Mount Rainier.

This is not unique to our area.  It's happening all over.  I just returned from the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho and experienced much the same.  A shuttle service I used told me he had never seen such crowds in all the years he has been in the area.  His thoughts were that it was the culmination of cabin fever and not being able to travel.  I can't say that I can argue with his assessment.

Anyway, back to the flowers!  Lupine, paintbrush, asters, common cow parsnip, false hellebore, and so much more!  Or, maybe you know them as the red ones, purple ones, yellow ones - that's alright too!  The importance is the enjoyment!

If you would like to see more images from this area, feel free to visit my Mount Rainier Gallery.

As always, thanks for looking!

Panhandle Gap, Mount Rainier National Park

Mt. Rainier from below Panhandle Gap in Mount Rainier National Park.

The highest and most desolate section of the Wonderland Trail resides on the east side of Mount Rainier National Park, above Summerland.  Panhandle Gap is the official high point at 6,750', separating Summerland from remote Ohanapecosh Park.

The trail begins at Fryingpan Creek, where parking can be challenging by mid-day.  This popular trail is gradual for the first two miles before climbing up to a crossing of the creek at 3 miles.  Then is a mile of mostly short, steep switchbacks to Summerland.  There are campsites here and a stone shelter cabin with views of the mountain.

For Panhandle Gap, continue on by descending to the creek crossing and then climbing up, first thru alpine meadows, then thru rough moraine often marked by cairns to a couple high tarns, then a further climb to Panhandle Gap.  The views are glorious all the way.

From the gap, the trail can be followed south as it gently descends into and traverses Ohanapecosh Park.  This area offers wide open wandering for the curious.

For photographers, this trail can be challenging as much of Rainier is obscured from this side, and the desolate nature of the area doesn't necessarily offer a lot of interesting foreground material to put in front of the mountain.  The image above was taken just below Panhandle Gap, and is probably the first interesting view of the mountain in my opinion.  My recommendation?  From Panhandle Gap a path can be followed east as it traverses east along a ridge and descends into parkland, where one can wander open slopes up to a high point with unobstructed views of the mountain.

Bears are commonly seen in the Summerland area in early season, and mountain goats can be encountered throughout the hiking season.  Marmots are also present in Summerland as well as Ohanapecosh Park.  The big glass could come in handy if you so choose.

For landscape photography, my preference is the 24-70mm.

To view more images from Mount Rainier National Park, please visit my Mount Rainier Gallery.

As always, thanks for looking!  Hope to see you on the trail!

2019 Mount Rainier Wall Calendar

2018 Mount Rainier wall calendar

Great news!  My new 2019 Mount Rainier wall calendar is now out and available for order!  It includes some of my favorite images from around the park, including Paradise, Tipsoo Lake, Spray Park, Mazama Ridge, Moraine Park, Sunset Park, Tatoosh Range, and more!

The calendar is available for purchase for $10.99 plus shipping.

I am also working on another Western Landscapes calendar for 2019, which will include images from all over the western U.S. and Canada.  I hope to have an announcement in the next day or two of its completion!

If you wish to view more of my work, please feel free to visit my website at www.mountainscenes.com.

As always, thanks for looking!

Flowers at Mount Rainier

Update Aug. 6th:  I toured the park today after my original backpacking plan fell through on the west side.  Paradise looks ahead of Sunrise for flowers this year, which I have never seen before.  I suspect Paradise is going to be looking pretty good in another week.

On the Sunrise side, the flowers look magnificent along the Sunrise road, until shortly before Yakima Park (Sunrise).  Then they basically disappear.  Strange. 

There are no flowers to speak of around Tipsoo Lake, and thus, I would assume it to be the same on the Naches Peak trail, since they have coincided in the past.

My hunch is that this is going to be a down year for flowers due to the dry summer we have had.  I hope to be wrong.

It is proving to be a strange year for flowers at Mount Rainier.  The flower displays typically associated with early August have not arrived, and likely are another 1-2 weeks out. 

How can this be with the early summer we have been blessed with?  Most likely, it is the extreme dry spell we have had.

Flowers in the Sunrise and Tipsoo Lakes area, which usually peak in late July, are still not at peak.  The same can be said for Spray Park.

Mazama Ridge is still sporting lots of snow.

Flowers at Paradise are just beginning to emerge near the parking lot.

Indian Henry's was still only sporting avalanche lilies a week ago.  I suspect the main show is still another week away.

Emerald Ridge has looked very nice in recent images I have seen.  This doesn't surprise me as it is usually one of the earliest spots to bloom.

It will be interesting to see how the flower shows play out this year around the mountain.  Will the different varieties all be on the same schedule?  Or will they be staggered as they sometimes are.

The good news is we still have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Hope to see you on the trail!

Enjoying Mount Rainier's West Side

Mount Rainier from Emerald Ridge at sunset.

This image is of Mount Rainier at sunset from Emerald Ridge. The Tahoma Glacier has carved out a feature called the Sunset Amphitheater on this side of the volcano. It is my favorite side of the mountain due to its mix of rock and ice in such a wild and remote setting.

The story:

Yesterday I did a rather ambitious trip to Mount Rainier. I left home at 6:00 am, and would not return until nearly 1:00 am this morning.

I drove down to the West Side Road and hiked up the road 8 miles to St. Andrews Creek, then 2.6 miles up to Klapatche Park. Here I soaked up the sun for a few hours, having the place entirely to myself. Finally, I ventured 0.8 miles over to St. Andrews Park, where I lounged for about an hour and chatted with a few thru hikers. From there, I descended 3.2 miles to the South Puyallup River, and ascended 1.8 miles to the prow of Emerald Ridge for sunset.

I arrived a little later than hoped, but still in plenty of time for the evening show. What a fantastic place!

As soon as the final show was over, I hurriedly packed my gear for the descent of the Tahoma Creek trail in the dark. Earlier in the my trip, I spoke with a couple of hikers that had ascended the trail. They gave it a clean bill of health. No issues, no problems - easy going.



Mount Rainier above meadows on Emerald Ridge.

This was not the case. This trail has changed much over the last few years with many more washouts. Though easy to follow with headlamp, the trail is tedious with many steep climbs over recent washouts. I honestly can't recommend this route to anyone any longer due to the length of time and effort to get up and over all these.

The climax of washouts was when nearly back to the road. I encountered the washout I had heard about from others, but heard rumor that WTA had fixed. This washout can't be fixed. The entire hillside collapsed, leaving a wall of rock in its place; a giant cliff that cannot be navigated around.

I soon realized the cairns had me crossing the river over a giant log, though I looked for all other options before committing. Once on the other side, three more cairns lead me along the river's far side, then ended. I spent over 1/2 an hour exploring all options. Soon I saw a headlamp ahead in the dark. I knew no one else was on the trail, so it must be coming from the road. It was less than 100 yards away. Frustrated, I again explored all options. I then weighed the terrain on the other side of the river where the trail should be, and realized aiming directly for it was the best option.



Sunset Amphitheater and the Tahoma Glacier on Mount Rainier.

There was no way to cross the river. So I decided to investigate fording it. The Tahoma is a raging torrent, for those that don't know. It has inflicted heavy damage along its route for a reason over the years. I wasn't crazy about the idea - crossing a dangerous river, in the dark, and alone. But I found a spot that seemed to minimize the dangers and stepped in. I found myself nearly knee deep. A second step had me knee deep. I probed ahead with my poles and grew confident the depth would not grow much deeper. A third step had me lower thigh deep and feeling the river's push. Two more steps and I was on dry ground, and more importantly, on trail!

With wet boots I walked the final mile of road back to my vehicle, arriving around 10:30 pm.

Total stats 21 miles round trip, elevation gain ~5,600'.