Mt. Rainier redux

So after a late night at the fireworks show, I awoke at my usual (stupid) early time, which is before the sun has officially risen. I knew the tide charts for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge reported high tide an hour after sunrise with enough water to completely cover the tidal flats. It had been sunny and clear the day before, and I was counting on it this morning. I wasn't disappointed.

The shot below was an off-hand shot, but has ended up as one of my favorites from this short jaunt (the Nisqually NWR is just 10 minutes from where we live). The boardwalk is always more enjoyable when the tide is up enough to completely cover the flats.

Since I had Thursday off too, I took Ian and Leah back to Mt. Rainier. Catherine made us our lunches so we could picnic there. Unfortunately, Paradise (as I've already reported) is still snowed in. This was a picnic table that we did not picnic at. We just chose a sunny spot by the visitor's center instead.

Just down the street from the snowed-in picnic table was this snow bank. It is not a snowplow-made bank, just all natural. I heard on the radio that Paradise still had 96 inches of snowpack - a far, far cry from the Clearfork Ski Area days. This is exciting because we had just under 140 inches this time last year and by the time snow-out had occurred it was already time for fall in the high (sub)alpine areas of the park. This area should be amazing once the snow melt is done and the alpine meadows are in bloom!

We completed our drive through the southern boundary of the Park and made our way to Ohanepecosh and walked the Grove of the Patriarchs trail. There was a suspension bridge that both kids just had to walk over by themselves.

I followed Leah very closely on the way over, but then dashed across (only one person at a time is recommended, mostly because of the swaying that occurs) to get photos of the kids coming across.

It was a long, sunny, glorious day. We escaped the oppressive heat of the lowlands (our car thermometer read 80 degrees Fahrenheit in direct sunlight after a break with the windows rolled up!!). It was in the low 60's at Paradise, but the sun coming at us from the glaciers and the snowpack was intense! All in all, a great day.

Cheers,

Marc