Last weekend we went to my mother-in-law’s house to spend the night. It was a pleasant time, spent chatting, laughing, and eating. Then, in the morning, we took a drive to Mt. Rainier.
Now, first I should probably explain that although I have lived only about an hour from Mt. Rainier for the past 20 years, I’ve only visited there a handful of times. If anyone asked me why, I’d probably answer that I don’t like to visit the mountain, that I’m not much of an outdoor person. Which shows what an idiot I can sometimes be. (It’s beautiful!)
Our first stop on the mountain was the location of a spring that had at one time been a health resort. There was an easy 1 mile trail we could follow, which led us into the forest and past a cabin that had belonged to one of the first Europeans in the area.
We walked along, enjoying the quiet among the trees, until a movement just to our right caught our eyes. What a surprise to find a mother deer and 2 youngsters following along beside us! They showed no fear whatsoever, and as we progressed along the trail, so did they. They followed us for about 20 minutes, until we finally reached the point where we needed to head back to the parking lot.
Lucky for us, we had our cell phones with their handy-dandy cameras. I think the deer even posed for us!
But the magic of the mountain didn’t end there. We continued to head up the mountain, toward and area appropriately called Paradise. There we stopped at a picnic area to have a quick lunch.
If you wonder why quick, just take a look at the ice!
Here it is, late August, and Mt. Rainier still has many feet of snow left on the ground! We were prepared for summer weather, and were only wearing lightweight jackets.
Brrrrrr.
Now that I think about it, that white stuff on the ground is probably the reason I haven’t visited Mt. Rainier too often. I am much more a warm weather person than a cold one.