Its another fee-free weekend to the National Parks - the last one in fact. We had been looking forward to visit Mt Rainier in Summer. In June, we explored the southwestern portion of Mt Rainier with my cousin, and there were snow everywhere. This time, we decided to check out the northwest portion of Mt Rainier, and hiked one of the trails there - Mt Burroughs.
Considering the traveling time, we wanted to set off very early - 7am, but got delayed by an hour. I was pretty worried about the parking lot, as it was a pretty popular hike. Surprisingly, the traveling time was lesser than the last, and we reached around 9:30am. We were able to get a parking lot reasonably close to the visitor center. Without much ado, we changed into our boots and set off.
Taking our 1st shot at the visitor center:
Briskly we climbed uphill, and came to a viewpoint. A couple were looking at the far distance using their binoculars, and talking to themselves "Its there, I see it". Curious, I edged slowly towards them, and asked: "Are you looking for marmots?"
I had never seen one, was hoping I could catch a glimpse for this trip.
The woman shook her head, her husband answered me: "There's a bear out there".
We asked to "borrow" his binoculars which was mounted on a tripod stand, and he carefully adjusted it, before letting us gain control of it. It was a very big bear, without this powerful binoculars, it would be impossible to locate it with our SLR lens, let alone our eyes. I asked about the power of the binoculars, which was 15.30.60. Hm, didn't make any sense to us, but I made a mental note.
Bear, bear! Spot the bear!
I really doubt you could see it. Its very far, but believe me, this bear was much bigger than the one we saw at Mt Olympics.
By now, many people had gathered, wondering what we were looking at, and taking turns with his binoculars when they learned of it. I jokingly told CH they should set up a "Bear Sighting Stand" here, and charged for the use of the binoculars.
We moved on, leaving the horde of people there admiring. It was a sunny day, and there were beautiful meadows with blooming flowers everywhere. The climb was enjoyable, scenic, and relaxing.
We arrived at Frozen Lake, a water source for some parts of Washington. There was a fence around it, barring intruders from access. We carefully walked around the fence, observing the interesting ice hanging over the lake.
No tramping! Its our water source! Yes, we drink from this!
Then we moved on, uphills. Reached the first Burroughs.
We decided we'd had our lunch when we reached the second Burroughs. Shortly, we met a couple on the way down. They'd stopped to wait for their son, who was crying. Looked like the poor kid was either tired or hungry to go on anymore. We went past them, then re-traced our steps to the family. CH offered the kid a packet of waffle biscuits we brought along as our snacks. The kid accepted, and immediately stopped crying. Its like magic!
"Don't cry anymore!" I shouted to him. We smiled at his parents, as the family began to move on.
We continued on, overtook a couple who had passed us earlier.
"Now it's your turn to lead," one of them jokingly said. We all laughed.
On our way up, we spotted a marmot, foraging for food.
I was getting impatient and quickened my footsteps. When I reached, CH was far behind me, taking his own time to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. I found a piece of rock, and sat down as I waited for him. There were many people here already, and 2 rangers, talking to some of the hikers.
CH finally reached and we settled on a spot to have our lunch, facing the burroughs as we enjoyed our rewards.
Isn't she beautiful? I wished I lived here!
It was time to go. We took a different route back, joining the Wonderland trail. Glad we did, it was really scenic.
More pictures at
flickr.
