Mt. Rainier

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20140816 194757  Dave bought us some great presents at the gift shop to remember this epic day. Mommy even got a marmot! Sam got an owl and Ben a squirrel! THANK YOU! Now time to hit the road for a three hour drive home! It's nearly 8pm already! 20140816 123032  Hitting Mt. Rainier for the wildflowers, even though we KNOW parking is going to be a nightmare! We're optimistic :) 20140816 123226  The boys and I want to build a cabin this summer. Something like this? I should say next summer. Ok, not something this amazing. A shelter for boys... 20140816 153120  The mountain was clouded over until this moment! Amazing to get some shots of it! We are so lucky. We DID get a parking spot and we had an awesome hike on the Skyline Trail - 6.5 miles and about 1600 ft elevation gain at 6800 ft elev. We think it's the longest hike Ben has done yet.
DSC01276  Just arriving and we think we see the summit of Rainier! We finally found a parking spot! DSC01279  Taking a look around the lodge. DSC01280  All these lights were repainted by a former park ranger. Something like 96 lights needed new wraps. DSC01282  Ben stores gum in his pockets for us!
DSC01283  You will get to enjoy a lot of wildflowers in these shots. We managed to hit the peak! We were told when you see asters in bloom, you're at peak. DSC01286 DSC01293  This is an aster. DSC01294
DSC01295  The Tatoosh Range. DSC01298 DSC01309  Marmot sighting! DSC01315  Love! Ben told me to take this shot. He has a good artist's eye.
20140816 153346  Another marmot! Middle of photo. 20140816 153429  They are half-raccoon, half-dog! 20140816 153436  Maybe part bear? 20140816 153806  Late melt-off created lots of opportunities to get wet!
20140816 153944  But everything is GREEN! I'm not adjusting the saturation on any of these! It looked just like this. Amazing. 20140816 154304  Snowman Sam! 20140816 163414  Fog is rolling in again! 20140816 164609  Ben has to go to the bathroom a LOT.
20140816 170007  BIG chipmunk! 20140816 170631 20140816 170854  Really can see the glaciers from this trail. 20140816 171634  Sliding!!!
20140816 171639  Ooops! 20140816 172412  People think I'm really cute! (Says marmot!) 20140816 173439  My marmot. 20140816 174321  Sam, you are so funny!! He said this was a handlebar mustache!
20140816 174802  This is my phone wallpaper. I actually took this with my Samsung Rugby. Pretty good! 20140816 174821  Photo-bomber! 20140816 175708  Mom, come look! 20140816 180713  Dinner by the fire! We didn't think we'd get so lucky to get a table at 6pm, but we did and what a location!
20140816 175717  I forget what the ranger is pointing out...oh! How high the snow gets. On average 640 inches!!!