Sunrise for Sunset

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Upper Crystal Lake

Waking up late leads to two things: (1) the Mt Rainier National Park entrance near Sunrise being totally jam-packed with traffic, and (2) a Plan B that consists of nearby Crystal Lakes Trail.

3 miles uphill, a gorgeous lake, then 3 miles downhill. The Crystal Lakes Trail was, as usual, more than my body cared for although this did not become apparent until we arrived at Sunrise to watch the sun set over Mt Rainier. My legs just did not want to lift my feet up any of those stairs. I pushed through it and was rewarded with some amazing colors.

The moon came out for our drive back down the mountain and it was huge.

Mt Rainier from Crystal Lakes Trail
Upper Crystal Lake
Dr Seuss Plants
Upper Crystal Lake
Subalpine Wildflowers
Subalpine Wildflowers Subalpine Wildflowers
A Ground Squirrel
Brown Woods
Mt Rainier from Sunrise
Alpine Plants
Sunsetting
Sunsetting
The Moon was Huge

3 comments:

rooth said...

That's beautiful and so serene. Definitely worth the hike

Jenny said...

Majestic photos! I'll put that hike on my list!
I'm doing my backpacking late this year, but will be heading to the Olympics the next three weekends.

Jamie said...

What a beautiful plan B