May 25, 2022 – Mt Rainier National Park

Drove 12 miles up to the Paradise area of Mt Rainier NationaI Park. At 5400 feet elevation it was snowy. It’s another 9000 ft to the top of Mt Rainier.

I had intended to hike but couldn’t make much progress in just hiking shoes. The top of Mt Rainier was buried in clouds and snow. Beautiful though.

Many of these photos are of the Paradise Inn. It’s nicer than the National Park Inn where I’m staying but it’s also more expensive.

The building with snow up to the roof is the Visitor’s Center. It just opened for the season.

Went on a 5 mile hike in a loop from the Longmire area where I’m staying. There was about 1339 ft of elevation gain to Rampart Ridge.

Some of the hike was through long patches of snow. It was slow going at times and a couple of times I sank through over my calf and the snow wanted to keep my shoe. And, part of the worst was uphill which meant some sliding.

Fun and memorable hike.