Rainer in Reflection
Lake (B&W)
Wednesday, 7 25
Due to fly out of Seattle that evening, I wanted to cram as
much into our last day in the Park as possible[i].
While Kate enjoyed the bed at t he Inn after a couple days of cold tenting, I
got up at the crack of dawn, adjusted my boot, and took off to catch some early
morning light. I had intended to drive back to Reflection Lakes near Paradise
after dinner the evening before. Laden down with stew and cobbler, I postponed
it until the next morning[ii].
I trudged out to the front porch, and took a couple minutes to enjoy the view
of Rainier in first light[iii].I was excited to go get some shots, but also thrilled to be
driving the winding roads in the morning[iv].
On the way to Reflection Lakes I stopped to photograph an unnamed waterfall,
and some new bird species[v].
Rainier Waterfall,
Sunlight through Conifers, Pine Siskin.
When I got to Reflection Lakes, it was fairly clear they
were pretty aptly named. I hiked a short trail until the lake opened up in
front of me, with Rainier reflected majestically in the still water. It was
already a little later in the morning than I had wanted, but the views were
still pretty fantastic.
Reflection Lake
Landscape, Reflection Lake Vista (B&W), Reflection Lake Vista II, Reflection
Lake Vista III, Rainier Reflected.
I could have stayed there all morning as the different hues
and temperatures of light slowly shifted, but we had hikes planned, so I slowly
and regretfully packed up my gear, trudged back over snow drifts to the car,
and started back to the Inn. On the way back I had the extreme luck to spot an
(unfortunately injured) Cascades Fox (Red Fox ssp.) on the side of the road[vi].
Trying as best I could not to excite or scare the already limping animal, I got
a couple quick shots in. Of all the wildlife we had seen, this was one of the
species I had been most anticipating, due to both its rarity and, well, foxes
are awesome. I watched him for a little while, until he clambered into the brush,
and then set back out on my way.
Cascades Fox, Cascades Fox
(II)
Even though I was running short on time, it’s really really
hard to pass by amazing scenery without getting a few shots in, so I hurriedly
sprinted from the car to get a some equally hurried shots of the sunlight pouring
over the ridges into the Nisqually River Valley, and the cool blue morning
shadows at lower Christine Falls[vii].
Nisqually River Morning,
Christine Falls
By the time I got back, Kate had had a chance to sleep in,
get ready, and have a leisurely breakfast. We stretched our legs with a short
hike in a meadow directly across from the inn. The Trail of Shadows meanders
through the low lying old growth forest of the Longmire area. While it doesn’t
have the spectacular vistas of other areas, it has some interesting history (
its hot springs were a draw to early visitors, and some of the old architecture
and stonework still exists) and it was a pleasant hike early in the morning.
Old Rainier Tour
Vehicle, Hot Spring, “Iron Mike” Mineral Spring, Creepy Cabin, Old Wood
Our last hurrah for the trip was a hike in the direction of
our way out of the park. On the previous recommendation of a ranger we drove in
on a bouncy dirt road for several miles to hike the Tahoma Creek Trail,
including part of the Wonderland Trail that circum navigates the park. As we
drove in we passed a large wall of boulders embedded in the ridge on the side
of the trail. A familiar high squeaky toy sound emananted from somewhere in the
rocks, and we stopped abruptly. For most of the trip we had been on the lookout
for the American Pika. We had scoured the subalpine trails and high areas for
this hilarious-sounding little lagomorph, without much luck, much to my wife’s
disappointment[viii].
After a moment, the little fellow popped up on the rocks squeaking away. Of all
the places we’d looked where he was supposed to be (high altitudes, rock
fields, etc) we ended up finding not one but two of them in a place they had no
business being in.
The hike itself was more strenuous than I had planned, with
a ton of really steep inclines and seemingly endless switchbacks. We hiked
along and through the massive boulder fields of the creek bed, and in and out
of forests. Time was a bit of a factor so we had to push hard. The payoff of
this section of hike was supposed to be a large suspension bridge out over the
creek at high elevation. We got almost all the way there, and I was bout done,
being a little warm and dehydrated. Kate went on ahead, and made it to the
bridge while I chilled on a nice nursery log in the forest. We booked back
along our trail in the rising heat of the day. I dipped my hat in the icy creek
water, and it kept my head cool most of the way back down.
Pika!, Twinflower
(Linnaea borealis), Lodestone (B&W), Harebell (Campanula rotundiflora), Was
on the Emerald Ridge/Tahoma Creek Trail.
We were running close on time, so we left the park and made
our way to the airport. Even for a brief trip, we got in some great hikes, and saw
an impressive amount of wildlife[ix].
The wildflowers were impressive even though they weren’t peak, and the weather
couldn’t have been better. This trip will be bookended by another combo trip at
the end of this month when we head out to Asheville for Kate’s brother’s
wedding, and swing by the Great Smokey Mountains on the way back.
NOTES
[i] With
some parks, I’m pretty sure I’ll need to come back at some point in my life.
While I enjoyed Rainier a lot, I think I’ve seen a lot of what it has to offer,
and I don’t think I need to come back (though I certainly wouldn’t turn a trip
down.)
[ii] If
I had made it in time, the light would have been amazing in the evening. But
morning worked out pretty well too.
[iii]
In the shadow of mountains, light breaks on the mountaintops long before it’s
of sufficient angle to reach into the valleys.
[iv] Kate
feels more comfortable driving tan riding in the passenger seat when the roads
are full of turns, so I had missed out all week on some great driving. Even
taking care to stay in the correct speed limits for wildlife, it was nice to
get out
[v]
Pine Siskin and Varied Thrush
[vi]
Sadly, these foxes are learning to associate humans with food because morons
feed them from cars and at some of the popular sites. This is leading to a host
of accidents and casualties among the foxes.
[vii]
I always feel a little like I’m cheating when I take a shot of something that’s
just iconic. It doesn’t take much thought or skill (thankfully for me…) to
stand where everyeone else stands, and take the short everyone else takes. But
then again, there is a reason these views are iconic. The trick is to add as
much as you can to a standard view to make it unique, or to find the right time
of day to really capture the light. I didn’t really do much of either on these,
but I was fairly happy with the long exposure (note the smooth, flowing water)
on Christine Falls. Especially since getting this shot involves leaning an
unfortunately costly gear setup out over an equally unfortunately high
precipice while one holds on to trees for all one is worth and leans and holds
one’s breath and clicks away like a madman. “Mommy, why is that man pretending
he’s a monkey?” “Shush dear, he’s a photographer…just look away, it’s very sad.”
[viii]
Kate doesn’t usually share my ongoing and admittedly child-like fascination
with wildlife, but she loves her some Pika. We had encountered one previously
on another Washington trip, so I wasn’t quite as excited by another as I was by
the fox I found
[ix]
For those keeping track, I noted at least 9 mammal species, many of which were
new to me: Douglas Squirrel (not new), Golden-mantled ground squirrel, Pika(not
new), Hoary Marmot, Eastern and potentially Western Grey Squirrels (not new),
Elk, Cascades Fox, Townsend’s and/or Yellow Pine Chipmunks, and Black-tailed
Deer (Mule Deer ssp.). There were also
about 5 or 6 new bird species for me, which is pretty impressive given that I
wasn’t actively birding: Vaux’s Swift, Anna’s Hummingbird, Violet-green
Swallow, Band-tailed Pigeon, Pine Siskin, and Varied Thrush. Not to mention all
of the flora, with about 40 new species of wildflower.
