Seattle Day 6

This picture is from the end of our day, but I love it!

We got a good night sleep in our little cabin other than the elk bugling just outside the window. After pancakes, we were on our way to the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier. We knew that parking would be a problem, so we planned to arrive early. Again, we were in plenty of time, though there was a long wait later in the day.

Mount Rainier was much better to us today. By the time we got near Sunrise, it had already peaked out of the clouds. It was visible throughout the day, but it kept going in and out of the clouds. This made the whole experience better. The snow and glaciers on Mount Rainier, contrasted with the clear blue sky were beautiful. We didn't see a single drop of rain, but it was so cold! When we arrived, it was only 44 degrees! Lucky, we had a lot of hiking to do.

Our first trail was nice and flat. It went nearly a mile through the wildflowers. There were so many purples and pinks, and few oranges. Every meadow seemed prettier than the last, so we took a lot of pictures along the way. Mark even spotted another grouse, and we also saw nutcrackers, finches, and juncos. It was certainly Mom's favorite hike!

We took a photo along the road because we weren't sure we would see the mountain again.

By the time we got to Sunrise, it was hidden behind clouds again!

It was freezing today!

The glaciers were so cool.

Our first trail was filled with wildflowers and Mom loved it!

She took pictures with everyone and a million flower pictures, too!

Seth still loves to pose for pictures!

We wore our masks for warmth.

We got excited whenever Mount Rainer peeked out from behind the clouds.

We spotted another grouse on the Silver Forest Trail.

Such a pretty spot!

We did everything we could to stay warm.

Mount Rainer back behind the clouds.

We had so much fun on this trip.

And Mount Rainer is back out again!

Next we hiked down to a pretty little lake called Shadow Lake. This hike was a little longer and busier, but we were hiking right toward the foot of Rainier. It towered over us so beautifully that we hardly noticed that our feet hurt from all the hiking we've done. Then we spotted a hoary marmot, which we'd been looking for! We couldn't see any bears, though.

Dax was freezing, so he rolled up the blanket and put it under his sweatshirt. It was so funny!

He looked like a body builder.

Seth also layered up with a blanket and looked pretty tough.

Everyone was finally a little bit warmer.

Mount Rainer was impressive!

Mom's tough hikers!

This meadow is where we wanted to see a bear, but we didn't.

Shadow Lake was pretty.

Dad relaxing by the lake.

Seth unloaded all of his layers and felt so free once it warmed up.

A marmot peeking down at us.

It's hard to show in pictures how cool Mount Rainer is.

Mark is a good brother.

The last stop in Mount Rainer park.

After lunch, we said goodbye to Mount Rainier National Park. We had a long drive with only stops for dinner at Red Robin and the Seattle Temple. Since it was Sunday, we knew the temple grounds would be closed. We were surprised though, because due to a visit from President Oaks, there were hundreds of people taking pictures and using the parking lot at the temple. Of course, we squeezed right in and took some pictures of our own. 

We did some shopping at Target before settling in to a nice movie at the hotel. We had to go to bed early because it was still an hour and a half into Northern Cascades National Park in the morning!

We lucked out to get family pics at the temple on a Sunday.