Mt. Rainier National Park Day Two

We were up early Friday to get an early start on our 100+ mile, round trip drive to the Sunrise Visitors Center and back to the rig. 

We were relieved to be able to drive without endangering the bike racers, and stop at many of the view points along the way. 

We were able to get a good look at the blue ice of the glaciers on Mt. Rainier and the White River, which is the runoff  from  one of the glaciers.

As I watched Craig make his way across the rocks at the edge of the wildly churning ice water, I wondered if this might be the last picture I would have of him.

Of course it was not, he got up close to the waters. He could have done the same with my 25X zoom lens from above. But this was more fun.

There were many wildflowers growing along the roadside. 

We first learned about this kind (Fireweed) 
on our trip 
to Alaska last year.

The leaves turn brilliant red in fall, and look like small fires along the road.

Looking away from Mt. Rainier

Who needs to go to Alaska? Between the glacial-runoff rivers, fireweed wildflowers, and rugged peaks on the horizon, many of the landscapes were similiar to those we saw last year in Alaska.

There were many trails that start or go through the Sunrise VC area.
We walked one of the shorter ones and got a good view of the Edmonds Glacier on this side of the mountain.

This is a close-up of a crevasse that's visible in the Emmons Glacier above. We have no reference to know how big this feature was, but its size would probably surprise us.  

I think the river in the image above is the White River. 

Later in the afternoon we noticed some large cumulus clouds rising high in the clear blue sky to the east. The posted weather report at the VC said there was a chance of thunderstorms by evening.

Needless to say we were concerned, because while rain is welcome, lightning strikes start wildfires. As it happened the clouds blew away.

On Saturday morning, we were out of the park by about 9:30 am. We noticed a lot more traffic coming in on the road to the park entrance than we had seen in the two days before. 

image from web

Weekenders! 

I watched my odometer as we drove past them at the entrance. There was a back up of almost a mile and more coming.

The best time to see any National park is during the week, preferably not in the summer months. I think we will be back another time, it was so beautiful!