mount rainier, vol. 1

after being cooped up in our studio apartment for a few weeks, we decided it was time to make a trip to the closest mountain. upon arrival, our tripometer said that this 14,410 footer is only 55 miles from our doorstep. although we can see mount rainier from various parts of our community, we couldn't really take in all of it's beauty without getting into it's back country. enjoy the pictures.

note: justin, i think you'll find a desktop background or two laying in here waiting for you!

note dos: our sleeping bags were so fresh & so clean, clean, and (finally) dry for our two nights at mowich lake campground.

mt. rainier

elev. 14,410 ft
15 miles outside of the park boundary.

happy camper, mowich lake
elev. 4929 ft.
on the way to lake eunice and tolmie peak.


brooke got a laugh out of his forgotten linkin park button. how many hikers wear a graffiti artist on their sleeve?


eunice lake
elev. 5320 ft.
a beautiful lake.

looking from eunice lake to tolmie peak.
the fire lookout tower is the square dot on the ridge left of center.
[click on picture for a close up view.]
our destination awaits.

happy camper. the fog begins to roll in.

tolmie peak fire lookout tower.
elev. 5939 ft.
our destination breaks through the end of the trail.


on clear days you can see a wonderful view of mount rainier.

on days like this, it was drenched in fog and 40 degrees.


as you can see, the view was well worth the three hour hike.

did we mention it was cold and windy?

inside the fire lookout tower where a ranger spends their time during a dry season.
this was andrea's favorite part!
she hopes to inhabit these humble quarters one day!


brooke liked it too!

we were treated to nature's sweet snack on the hike down:
low blueberries!

bobo dow!


we met a new friend on the way down as well: mr. chipmunk.
he was quite the photogenic fellow.

here's another game of 'name that flower.'
anyone want to take a stab?
seriously, we need a plant guide.


part dos

after we summited tolmie peak, we returned to basecamp for a quick gatorade recharge and to prop up our nearly blistered feet. then back on the trails, this time, headed for what we only knew as 'spray falls.' little did we know of their shear magnitude.

look at the ingenuity of the freaking nps again! what a placement of those logs. hikers adore this stuff. dry feet = happy camper


what the hell! is this a trail?...or a moraine? i guess we'll follow...


speechless....


spray falls is a glacier runoff, dropping 300 feet to the river below. it took our breath away as we stood there for a while, taking in all of it's splendor.
my (andrea) breath was also still as i watched brooke hop stone to stone past the 'official' trail end to the other side of the river to get this amazing picture (please do not report this to your local park ranger.) thank God he returned back ok, camera in hand, grin on face.


another great shot brooke took teetering on rocks over the quick rapids of spray creek.


still smiling on the return of a 10.5 mile day of beautiful hiking.

the calm before the storm

the below photographs were taken on the snake river the morning andrea and i decided to kayak from jackson lake dam to deadman's bar. we never made it the whole way. andrea and i got caught in a log jam about half way. andrea took the brunt of it as her and her kayak were dragged completely underwater, and under the log jam. she miraculously pop to the surface on the the other side. let it be known, surfacing after colliding with a log jam does not happen often. we made it safely to a distance shore of the river, put back in, but were too tired to continue. we pulled out of the snake river eight miles short of deadman's bar. we had to drag both of our kayaks up hill, through a sage brush field about three-quarters of a mile to get a ride back to our car. needless to say, it was time for some mountain high pizza pie and a beer.

i am so thankful andrea came out of this alive. it was quite a nightmare.

the peaceful part of the snake river; from jackson lake dam to pacific creek landing.

bald eagle nesting areas lined the upper snake river. if you look closely to the bottom left
of the nest you can see a bald eagle perched on a branch.

not sure what type of flower this is; can anyone tell us?

what are the odds? a bee landing on the same flower we were photographing.

andrea pre-log jam.

brooke pre-log jam

the finest land in the country... jackson hole.

worn out. post-log jam and kayak shuffling extravaganza.

andrea just had told me to look behind me to see how far we had carried the kayaks through sagebrush.
just a fifty foot steep hill down to the water at the tree line.