Mount Rainier National Park. We started at the Longmire Visitor Center, had lunch and caught the free shuttle bus to Paradise Visitor Center at the base of the great mountain.  Paradise truly is... Paradise! We hiked the 5.2 mile Skyline Trail overlooking the Nasqually Glacier and lots of waterfalls. The alpine meadows are covered in more wildflowers than you can imagine!! They have a very short growing season here and we were lucky enough to catch them blooming. Words cannot begin to describe the outrageously beautiful colors of wildflowers set against the background of the deep green trees and the pure snow caps. The peak of Rainier is in the clouds most of the time, but near the uppermost point of our hike, the clouds blew away and we could see the beautiful peak for a couple of minutes. Wow! This is one gorgeous mountain! We met another couple at Panorama Point, Gary and Michelle from Seattle, and chatted for a minute. We continued our loop hike and saw more beautiful waterfalls and wildflowers. We had to hurry towards the end of our hike to catch the shuttle bus back to Longmire and our truck by 7:15pm.

Original Photo