We stopped along Hwy 410 on the eastern slope of Mt. Rainier to switch drivers and I spied wildflowers in bloom along the verge and in the ditch. There was Harsh Paintbrush.
Lewis’ Monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii)
And Cascade Asters (Aster ledophyllus).
It was cool and sunny and we found a nice spot near a creek that was big enough for Genevieve the Silver Palace.
On our way to pay our campsite fee I spied a wonderful Pinedrops (Ptersopora andromedea).
After lunch we took a little walk down to the stream next to our campsite. Later we discovered that this stream starts just a few yards away as water pours out of the upper bank. Clearly that water pouring out of the bank is Silver Springs. Duh.
Then we made our way out to the White River. The Emmons Glacier on Mt. Rainier is the source of the White River. Glacial melt is full of rock flour and that makes the river that interesting beige color and hence it’s name. Well they don’t call it the Beige River but I guess with enough rock flour somebody decided it was white.
There were interesting winds aloft making for mare’s tails in the sky.
On Friday August 22nd, it was cool and clear when we got up. After running the generator and making a lunch we set out for Sunrise, the main hiking area on the north side of Mt. Rainier. It was in the 50’s when we reached Sunrise Point, a viewpoint on the way to Sunrise. The snow field straight ahead in this photo is the Emmons Glacier.
If you cross the road to the right here you can see the Sourdough range and little Sunrise Lake in the valley below.
If you go the other way you get a view of Governor’s Ridge, Tamonos Mountain, the Savant Glaciers and Mt. Rainier.
The parking lot at Sunrise was pretty full so we took a spot in the gravel area at the edge of the lot. Here’s the view from our parking spot.
We stopped and got a map of the hiking trails and wandered around a bit trying to find what turned out to be the main trail. Duh. The description made it sound like it was hidden behind the picnic grounds when in fact, it was a trail wide enough for 4 people to hike abreast. But since there were flowers everywhere, who cares? There was a nice clump of Cascade Asters ( Aster ledophyllus). This was the main flower in bloom in the meadows.
But I also found some Parry's catchfly (Silene parryi).
The trail goes up the hillside opposite the mountain so you get a continually changing view of the mountain. I took tons of photos hoping to get a view without some clouds obscuring the top.
Here’s a view down across the meadow to Sunrise and the mountains beyond.
Earlier in the summer the main flowers in the meadow are Pasque flowers (Anemone-occidentalis). By this point in the summer they have gone to seed and their wonderful hairy seed heads dot the meadow.
There were also a lot of these pure white seed heads that come from Short-beaked Agoseris (Agoseris-glauca-var.-agrestis)—clearly a relative of the dandelion.
 |
 |
The top of the mountain was almost all the way out of the clouds when we got to the top of the trail.
There was a big patch of Gray's lovage (Ligusticum grayi) where the trail took a turn to follow the Sourdough Trail along the ridgeline.
Walter found a nice bench and I got a great photo of him and the mountain.
Along the ridge there were more islands of alpine firs. They provide cover for flowers and so there was a greater variety of things growing along this part of the trail. There was Petite Penstemon (Penstemon procerus) and new one for me.
And Alpine Buckwheat (Eriogonum pyrolifolium) which comes in pink and white.
As we crossed the ridge the top of the mountain finally came out of the clouds but of course then the west side was in clouds.
So I got Walter to take a shot of me with it.
And while I was at it, I found a patch of yarrow to make a classic photo of flowers and the mountain.
There was a really nice patch of false hellebore (Veratrum viride) in bloom along this stretch.
Showy Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium californicum)
And Cusick’s Speedwell (Veronica cusickii)
There was even a patch of Phlox still in bloom!
There was Sitka Valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)
And a patch of this strange stuff I’d never seen. I think it’s Bracted Lousewort (Pedicularis bracteosa).
When you come to the turn where you can either go on across Sourdough Ridge or go back down to Sunrise there’s a great view of Mt. McNeely and the valley below.
Looking out the other way, northward the view looked almost like a diorama, the light made it seem so unreal looking.
On the way back down the hill I spied some American Bistort (Polygonum bistortoides). Oftentimes the meadows are full of these little guys but there were very few this time.
Nearly at the bottom again I spied a large patch of Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia).
Right next to the building that holds the gift shop and snack bar there was a huge patch of dwarf lupine (Lupinus lepidus var. lobii).
We saw some small patches of Subalpine Daisy (Erigeron peregrinus subsp. callianthemus) up in the meadow but there were great specimens of it down next to the parking lot. Maybe there’ll be more in the meadow in coming weeks.
On Saturday morning August 23rd, we got up and ran the generator and made our lunch. Then we set out to drive up Hwy 410 over Cayuse Pass and on to Tipsoo Lake for another wildflower hike with views across the lake to the mountain. But at 11:45 am, the parking lot was full. All the spots along the road were full. And all the spots in the next two parking lots for other hikes were full. In fact, there wasn’t a parking spot near a trailhead to be had all along Hwy 410! There was a steady stream of cars coming up the mountain because it was a beautiful sunny warm weekend day in western Washington and it appeared that half of Seattle had decided to come visit the mountain.
We visited all the lots twice and only managed to find a place to pull out and take a photo but it was miles from any trails!
So we bagged it and drove down the road to get gas (a madhouse in the little town of Greenwater) and then to have a quiet afternoon off. On the way there, there was a wide spot in the road and we parked and I hiked back up to get a photo of the mountain without any clouds! That’s the White River winding up the valley.
Here’s a closer shot, just so you can understand why we say, that “when the mountain lifts her skirts, the view from home will downright melt your mind.”
