Backpacking, Mt. Rainier National Park, 08/28 - 09/03/2004

Trip Log: 8/28 - 9/3/2004, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA - Backpacking

Sunrise in Mt. Rainier National Park	The trip started on a foggy Saturday	Our camp for the first night, by Nickle Creek

The next day was sunny	Lots of great views along the trail	And Mt. Rainier smiled at us

It was so hot, I decided to cool off in a glacial lake. "Brrrrrr!!"	Alpenglow on Mt. Rainier, taken from Summerland	View from Sunrise Ridge, on the third day

We were feeling pretty strong on day 3, so we decided to push on to Mystic Camp, passing by Carbon Glacier near sunset	We saw a lot of marmots along the way	A LOT of marmots

We also stopped at numerous waterfalls	Very numerous	"Oh it's just another waterfall."

I got up at 4:30 the next morning to sit quietly by Mystic Lake, enjoying the sunrise	Even the little things can be amazingly beautiful	The play of water and reflection

We had one more dry day, then the sky opened up and it rained and hailed on us	Sitting in camp, soaked and cold to the bone	And the vicious man-eating squirrel has been stalking us for days

But we pressed on	Even when the mountain called to us	Whispering sweet nothings in our ears and telling us to stay

We did our best to resist her siren songs	And ended this wonderful trip on the seventh day