Mount Rainier National Park – Page 4

Winter is Coming

A pika brings a mouthful of plants back to its home to store them for the long winter on Mount Rainier.

I spent a lot of time with sooty grouse on my last hiking trip, either at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park or at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. This grouse is from Mount Rainier on the Deadhorse Creek Trail, just above where it branches off from the Skyline Trail.

Face in the Forest

I hiked a section of the Wonderland Trail on my last full day in Mount Rainier National Park. I was exhausted from hiking on previous days with my heavy telephoto lens, and though I left it behind on this hike, the trail was an uphill slog through the forest and it was raining heavily. Making matters worse, most of the camera gear I hike with is old with no weather-sealing. Plus I discovered the hard way that my trusty old hiking boots were no longer waterproof. The clouds were so low I couldn’t even see the mountain when I reached a clearing up top, so my spirits were a little low.

On the hike back down I made myself stop and adjust my attitude. I love hiking in forests and decided my little camera was coming out in the rain, and if it died, it died. I started photographing bark and moss and was having a good time and couldn’t resist a picture of this tree that reminded me of an Olmec head (I always think of the one Mr. Burns gives Bart on the Simpsons).

Kingdom of the Pika

I spent over four hours watching a couple of pikas on the Palisades Lake Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, keeping an eye on the clock as I had a set time when I needed to depart for Olympic National Park. This pika was below the trail, the other above it, and I watched and photographed them through my biggest telephoto lens.

This pika spent most of its time with its back to me, sitting on a rock and looking down the hill, so I grabbed my widest lens to better show the world of these amazing little creatures (the pika is sitting dead center on a rock near the bottom of the frame). Winters are long and harsh here and it’s hard for me to wrap my head around how, without hibernating, pikas can survive a winter that would kill me within hours.

This is the same pika as in my I spent over four hours watching a couple of pikas on the Palisades Lake Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, keeping an eye on the clock as I had a set time when I needed to depart for Olympic National Park. This pika was below the trail, the other above it, and I watched and photographed them through my biggest telephoto lens.

This is the same pika as in my earlier picture, which was taken further up the trail to the right.

Leaving Paradise

My little Subaru on the road between Paradise and Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park. I’ve taken it on a trip before but this was its first big hiking trip with all of my camera gear. I used to take our old Outback on trips like this but bought the Crosstrek with the hopes of using it both as my daily driver and for hiking trips short and long. The storage in the hatch is much smaller than the Outback so I was worried all of my stuff wouldn’t fit but most of it did, I only had to put some drinks and snacks behind the front seats. With some different luggage in the future it should all stay hidden in the hatch.

On this day with rain and low clouds I practically had Mount Rainier to myself as I drove up to Sunrise and then on to Olympic National Park. I was thankful for the car’s visibility, both the view out of the car and the visibility of the white paint to other drivers, as it poured rain for much of the drive. As I drove off the bridge and onto the Olympic Peninsula in the rainy darkness, police were directing traffic around an accident that had occurred not much before, so I was thankful for the improved safety of this car compared to my old one even though I didn’t have to put it to the test.

Really love this little car.

Patience, Grasshopper

I spent my first full day on this visit to Mount Rainier hiking the Skyline Trail and its various offshoots. While I had seen grouse and marmots, based on previous visits I was a bit surprised to not see more wildlife than I did. What I saw most were grasshoppers which were constantly hopping about the trails, many crushed underfoot from the mass of hikers on the previous day.

At the end of a hard day’s hiking I went back up to see if any marmots were out in the biggest colony near the trail, as they had been quite active the previous evening, but was sorry to see that they had all called it a day. I hiked a little further and was delighted to find this Townsend’s chipmunk eating what I assumed were some seeds on a boulder near the trail.

I was a little confused when, after watching it eat for some time, it started coming straight toward me. But it just grabbed some flattened grasshoppers near my shoes and hopped back up onto its boulder and ate them. It was then that I realized that most of this little section of the trail had been cleared of grasshoppers, and when I reviewed my pictures I understood why.

After a while it came back towards me, but this time hopped right between my legs and continued on down the trail. It had its dinner, and as the light faded, it was time for mine.

The Siren’s Call

I’ve tried to hike the Palisades Lake Trail in Mount Rainier National Park three times over the past decade but never gotten very far. Once because of thunderstorms, twice because of pikas. I can’t resist them and spent my last hours of my latest visit watching this pika below the trail and another above it. Normally pikas let out a fairly quick call but thankfully this one let out an extended call as I had already packed up to head back up the trail and had to grab a quick handheld shot.

One day I’ll have to hike the trail with friends who can cover my eyes and stop up my ears and lead me safely past the siren’s call.

The Living Rock

Late in September of 2008, I was hiking for the first time in the Sunrise portion of Mount Rainier National Park. It was cold and pouring rain but it was the start of a week of hiking and I was in a good mood. As I came across a talus field I noticed an unusual rock at the edge of the path. But when my rock moved as I approached I realized I had just seen my first hoary marmot.

My camera didn’t have any weather sealing and a previous accident had left a gaping hole at the top of the camera, but I couldn’t resist a few pictures.

Black Coat, White Coat

Another view of the marmots from the colony near the Skyline Trail, two juveniles being watched by an adult. With the two youngsters side-by-side, you can better see the variability in their coloring, black coat on the left and white coat on the right.

Gang of Four

All hoary marmots have dark fur in their face and feet, in some it extends into the shoulders and legs. But this gang of four, part of a colony near the Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, had the most dark fur I’ve yet seen, mixing in over much of their bodies. Some of the others in the colony had more typical coloring and they all intermingled between two large rocks, so I was pleased when these four finally got together to pose for their family portrait.

Tag: Mount Rainier National Park