August 3, 2012 Mt. Rainier NP

Today was amazing. What a mountain! Mt. Rainier (14,410 ft.) is not only beautiful, it's still a volcano - a sleeping one. We drove the southern side, from west to east, and it was getting dark when we got to the other side. So many beautiful sights!
















Mt. Rainier. Glacier lilies.
















Here's that Mountain Man again. Lupines, paintbrush, and other assorted wildflowers.
















Steller's Jay fussing at us. Christine Falls

Christine Falls. What the Nisqually Glacier started, the Nisqually River continues.... The water is murky because it's from a glacier and full of dirt, rocks, etc. If a stream is clear, it's from snowmelt.

Mt. Rainier, in the late afternoon.

Reflection Lake. Look closely and you will see that I'm feeding grapes to a kingbird, also known as a "camp-robber". Some nice folks from Nebraska kindly allowed me to join in the feeding....

How snow melts around a tree. In the Grove of the Patriarchs on the southeast side of the park in the realm of old-growth forest. Some of these trees are over 1,000 years old.
















In the Grove of the Patriarchs. Bubba on the swinging bridge to the Grove.