Cernek.org Blog

The forecast for today was sunshine and blue skies. We have hit the jackpot again. Mount Rainier is frequently shrouded in clouds, but not today.

Mount Rainier is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. It has 26 major glaciers and 36 square miles of icefields. Today we are able to see it all. What a gorgeous day!

This mountain is high enough to create its own weather. The small cloud on top is a fun phenomenon to watch.

We had planned on entering Mount Rainier National Park from the east gate. Two things have gotten in our way of that coming to pass. First we missed the turnoff into the park but discovered this beautiful viewing area when we turned around (I’m thinking mistakes aren’t always mistakes). Second the east entrance is closed. No problem. The Jeep is turned around and heads back through Packwood. Stopping at the RV for a bite of lunch seems like a good idea. With the sunroof panels off of the Jeep and the windows down, we are off again to enter the park from the west side.

We are by the Nisqually Glacier today.

It would seem that, whenever we have been around glaciers, we have seen awesome waterfalls.

Today is no exception. This one even comes framed in a stone bridge.

Do we look like tourists, or what?

This was a side waterfall from the main event. Looking up into the light, the water sparkles like diamonds.

This mountain is so prominent a feature on the landscape it frequently gets referred to simply as “the mountain.” The cloud on top looks like dry ice.

This is a lot like all those glaciers we were seeing in Alaska. It is still beautiful to behold. It doesn’t get old.

Flowing from the glacier is the river. This one happens to tumble over some big rocks, creating wonderful sound effects to go with the whitewater.

As we arrived at Reflection Lake, this little deer was crossing the road to the lake side. A bit shy, it was still easy to follow along without disturbing him to get some pictures.

The dry ice effect is still wafting along.

We had to walk up and down the trail to finally find the place where the reflection shows up. I have to say this isn’t a bad place to be wandering about. It is absolutely beautiful today.

We have come back to Paradise Inn, a few miles from Reflection Lake, to see about dinner. Since the restaurant doesn’t open until 5:30, we have about an hour to walk about the grounds and check out the inn. The steps lead to the trail to the mountain.

We are in alpine meadow and seeing many of the same flowers we saw in the alpine meadows in Alaska.

There is a fireplace like this on each end of the great room.

This chair is a work of art in itself.

Dinner is a real treat. I have never had crab macaroni and cheese with Tillamook aged cheddar cheese. I can’t recommend it highly enough! It is rich and you wouldn’t want to have it very often, but tonight, it is perfect!

Sometimes things work out exactly how they are supposed to. This has been a perfect day. Had we not gone the wrong way to begin with, we wouldn’t have been here at dinnertime. We would have missed a great dining experience.

The days are getting shorter and the night is creeping in on us as we drive back on the country roads. Most of the way we have enough twilight to make the drive easier. The last couple of miles are a bit dark. Winter is coming. It is time to head south. Life is good.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 1st, 2011 at 19:53 and is filed under North by Northwest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.