Spray Park, Mt. Rainier

the snow has melted enough that we were finally able to make the trip up to mowich lake. we've wanted to get up into spray park [heaven on earth] during wildflower season. we ventured out with our good friends bryan and melia. we arrived at mowich lake friday evening with time to set up the tents, drink a beer or two, and gaze up at the un[light]polluted night sky and take in more stars then we have ever seen. luckily brooke stowed away our tripod to take a few long exposure photos!

Ursa Major; big dipper.
30 second exposure; no photoshop.

though being kept awake by field mice running over our tent all night, we finally awoke to a morning with dew on the ground and a chill in the air. we forgot our real breakfast on the counter back at home so bryan offered us a few snack bars and we hit the trail towards spray park.

bryan and melia [20 months]. this is at eagle's lookout, about 2 miles into our hike; about 1 mile after melia fell asleep.

don't try this at home! byran has climbed his fare share of mountains [try all the cascade volcanoes except mt glaicer and mt jefferson] and has summitted rainier more times then i can remember. bryan is the type of guy who is into every non-organized sport. whenever you asked him what he did the prior weekend he replies, 'surfed,' 'mountain-biked,' 'rock climbed,' 'skied' or 'whitewater kayaked.' he's a good guy to have around... full of humor, insight, and random stories!

on the other side of the stream lies spray falls. what a beautiful sight!

this is at the start of the switchback-filled hike up into spray park. i think melia woke up while bryan was crossing the stream!

i think this is andrea's second favorite place on earth; next to the grand tetons. she is convinced that a little piece of heaven will resemble spray park. i tend to agree.

i sort of thought that once we reached spray park we'd look around, then hike back down. i should have known better. bryan looked back and said, 'we've got plenty of time.' so we headed forward and up.

through snowfields.

past the treeline.

and up to a ridge about a mile shy of the russell glacier.

'look melia, we're so close!'

the panorama we were treated to! if you look closely, you can see mt baker [left] and mt glacier [center,] and of course, mt rainier [right.]

our happy climbers. melia was a great 20 month-old hiker! she fussed very little for being in a backpack carrier for six hours!

wishing we had crampons and skis! at least brooke was.

melia the conqueror!

after spending an hour or so on the ridge, we started to head back down. brooke stopped along the way to snap a few photos of wildflowers he hadn't seen yet.

Dodecatheon alpinum; Alpine Shooting Star

Erythronium montanum; Avalanche Lily or Glacier Lily

Xerophyllum tenax; Bear Grass or Indian Basket Grass

lady bug.

what a beautiful weekend to be out in the mountains! blue skies, bright sun...sort of ruins the seattle rain cliche!

we'll have to branch out for you guys next weekend. i know you probably feel inundated with hiking and mountain reports...maybe we can throw something different at you! :)