Each time I hiked in October, I kept thinking that would be the last good hiking day of the season. And every time, I was wrong. On Oct, 19th Sharon, Steve, Fran, and I headed to Mowich Lake to hike up to Spray Park. I’d only been to the lower part of Spray Park before to see the wildflowers, and was driven out by ravenous, blood-sucking, thirsty, evil, vampire mosquitoes who seem to love me more than any other human on the planet.  This time, there were no mosquitoes (and no wildflowers), but the weather could not have been more perfect for a late fall hike on my gorgeous Mountain with good, good friends.

The expansive views at the upper areas of Spray Park are incredible, and I loved seeing the Mountain from a new angle that I’d never seen before. We also had a wonderful view of Cataract Valley and down into the Carbon River Valley, Mother Mountain, the whole north Cascades, and Mt. Stuart.

Of course, I had to support my favorite team while up there, so I hiked in my Seattle Sounders FC shirt and scarf, and it was Scarves UP! at the top of Spray Park for all of us 🙂

Some day, when I’m brave enough to fight the mosquitoes, I’ll make it up here again during wildflower season, which I imagine will be spectacular.

My annual pilgrimage to Sunrise, Mt. Rainier, at sunrise to see the sky and mountain light up. I hate getting up at 4 a.m., but this is so very worth it!  J and E and I were on the road before 5 a.m., and after hiking a little bit out of the parking lot we settled in to watch the dawn. My advice… JUST GO DO IT!!!  The road to Sunrise usually closes mid-October for winter, so this is my way of saying goodbye to this section of Rainier every year.

After watching a gorgeous sunrise, we hiked out to the Fremont Lookout Tower and had a relaxing picnic lunch with wonderful 360-degree views. Beautiful day with good friends, in a most spectacular area of Mt. Rainier.  GO!

Another wonderful hike along the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point at Rainier. Coming out of the parking lot I said I’d like to see marmots, and we definitely got marmots! They were posing and flirting with us… great way to try out my new camera. Even though the wildflowers were spent at the end of September (and it’s the BEST wildflower hike I’ve ever been on), it was still an excellent hike, amazing views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood.  And marmots… a lot of marmots!

Best day ever at Skyscraper Pass, out of Sunrise. J. and I headed out early and spent the day with 32 mountain goats who were all about showing off and posing for us for a couple of hours. We were fortunate that they were much more interested in sunning on rocks and eating than 2 hikers with cameras. They were amazing, and looked very healthy with a lot of new kids. Rangers told us the goat herds are getting larger and stronger every year, and it shows. It was an amazing day, one I won’t soon forget.

I have to get out to Eunice Lake and the Tolmie lookout once a year, it’s tradition.  The view from the Tolmie lookout is one of the best in the park, with sweeping views of the Mountain, Mowich Lake, Eunice Lake, and the Puget Sound area.. This year, I had the bonus of spending 30 minutes watching a mamma bear with her two cubs foraging on the far side of the lake along the cliffs. This is the day I decided I needed to get a camera with a better zoom!!!

Sharon, Steve, and I hiked to an (undisclosed) lake on a sketchy and steep (undisclosed) trail. I won’t say where it is since it’s “unofficial” and we want it to stay that way, but it sure was gorgeous!!! 

S & S brought fishing gear, I brought a chair and book, and we spent the day in complete solitude away from the masses of other places at Rainier. Many of the wildflowers were past bloom, but the area is so beautiful it didn’t really matter. The wild ripe huckleberries along the way more than made up for lack of flowers!  Again, I have to pinch myself so I don’t forget how incredibly fortunate I am to live near Tahoma and have it as my playground.

Sharon and I headed out to Sheep Lake and beyond to Sourdough Gap. Sheep Lake is an easy 2 to 2.5-mile hike to a wonderful little alpine lake. Most of the wildflowers were bloomed out, but that also meant that bugs were mostly gone too. We passed Sheep Lake and headed up to Sourdough Gap, then beyond that to another ridge with great views down to Upper Crystal Lake. The views up here are wonderful, with a perfect mix of meadows and sub-alpine trees. Perfect day, perfect weather.