Sunny Rainier!

Mason has wanted to hike to Mowich Lake for over a year, so we decided we would try it this week only to discover the road to the trail head was closed for road repairs!  So, we chose some other hikes.  We started here at Paradise.  This is where the professionals begin who summit the mountain.  Not us.

But before we started we had a picnic lunch at Narada Falls.  The spray of the mist felt great on a hot day.

After our sushi and Asian wraps (not traditional lunch picnic food), we started out for Snow Lake.

We thought we might pass a lake on our way and thought this was a small lake.  We later learned this was only a pond along the way.

Usually the wild flowers are out in abundance in August.  But thanks to our dry, warm  winter, they are already in bloom.

There were so many flowers, the landscape looked like it was planted -- not wild!

I wished I had a field guide to tell me the names of what we were seeing!  So, I looked these up and this is Bear Grass.  The stems can grow to 5 feet tall.

They were really pretty!  These are Mountain Bells.

In Idaho they called this Indian Paintbrush.

 But the Mt. Rainier flower guide calls these Magenta Paintbrushes.

This is Snow Lake.  Most years it has ice floating in it through August.  This year we had to climb higher to touch the snow.

Unlike the hike we did at Lena Lake last week, we only gained 700 feet in elevation but we started out much higher.

Another view of Snow Lake. 

The route to the snow.

It wasn't hard to imagine an avalanche in some areas.

Another view of Snow Lake.

Snow Lake again with Unicorn Peak in the distance.

Mason and Karl climbed to the snow and brought me back a snowball.

The view on the hike to the next lake, Bench Lake.

Bench Lake.

Karl couldn't resist and had to feel the water.

And once you start, it's hard to stop.

We really wished we had swim suits and raft to float on the lake.

Incredible views in every direction.

This is a bare Rainier for June.  Mason and Karl were caught in a white-out blizzard at Paradise in late June one summer.

Suspension bridge that recommended one person at a time.  But thanks to Karl and Mason, my crossing felt like Galloping Gertie!

Last we took a leisurely walk through the Grove of the Patriarchs.  It was a lot like being in Redwood country in Northern California.

But up here in the Pacific Northwest, we have giant cedars and Western hemlocks.