The weather was supposed to be the best on Monday and Tuesday, so we took full advantage of it and headed to the Mountain -- Mt Rainier that is! Jared and Kristina had never been to Mt. Rainier in October and were anxious to see it during a different time of year. George and Louise had not seen Mt. Rainier yet, so it was to be able to show them such a spectacular site!
Here's the mountain from the parking lot. It is obvious that we didn't get much snow last winter, but even after a long, warm summer, there is still snow at the top. Amazing!
Zooming in on the mountain...
We drove up to Paradise and decided to hike the Skyline Trail. We have been on it many times, but for people that have never been there before, it is the best place to get to "know" Mt. Rainier. The wildflowers had come and gone, but you can see in the following pictures how the fall colors were just beginning to peak out in the landscape.
Here's a motley crew -- Louise, Kristina, and George hiking up the trail on a sunny day!
Posing for another shot...background is simply amazing!
Kristina often darted ahead on the trail. Jared was busy taking pictures, and George and Louise were getting used to the altitude and the incline of the trail. Kristina has been trained by Jared after all of these years. Her weekly cardio tennis class helps too!
Kristina waiting for the rest of crew to arrive!
Lost of waterfalls still coming off the mountain...
Closer shots of the mountain...
George falling behind on the trail...
This is a cool shot, you can see all of the icicles hanging off the ledges of the mountain.
George and Louise posing for some shots on the trail...they look like they are having fun!
Magnificent views opposite of the mountain...
Here you can see Mt. Adams in the background...
And here you can see Mt. St. Helens in the background...
Stopping for a water break and some chit-chat.
There isn't a bad view in any direction.
Closer shots of the other mountains...
Beautiful hillside on our way down...look at those colors!
Always amazing to see where flowers decide to grow...
Closer shots of that hillside...
Had to get a photo of Jared in there since he was kind enough to take all of the wonderful photos all day long!
More fall colors!
Until next time...
