Southwest Washington: Mt. Rainier , Goat Rocks , Mt. Adams , Mt. St. Helens

Below right: A white Avalanche Lily (Erythronium) next to a yellow Glacier Lily on Tolmie Peak, Mount Rainier National Park. 05RAI_064-Avalanche+Glacier-Lily.jpg

Page 6: Southwest Washington: Mt. Rainier , Goat Rocks , Mt. Adams , Mt. St. Helens

Index to Washington: Page 0: Highlights ~ map ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7

Page 1: Seattle Area: Seattle ( fireworks , Space Needle & EMP , University of Washington ) ; Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island

In altitude, Washington varies from sea level up to 14,411 feet at the summit of Mount Rainier, an awesome active volcano covered in glaciers. The Carbon Glacier of Mount Rainier flows to a lower altitude than any other glacier in the United States, not counting Alaska.

Mount Rainier National Park:
See also Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, which has good views of Mount Rainier from the south.

Spray Park and Tolmie Peak Hikes:
Washington: Spray Park, in Mt. Rainier NP
Above: A landscape of avalanche lilies (Erythronium) & buttercups can be hike in mid-July in Spray Park, in Mount Rainier National Park. Published in 1996 and sold as a popular print.

Below: Closeup of avalanche lilies (Erythronium) in Spray Park, Mt. Rainier National Park. Published in the Made in Washington Stores Catalog, Spring/Summer 2007.
Washington: Avalanche Lillies, Spray Park, Mt. Rainier NP

Left: Carol and Tom hike to a nice view of Eunice Lake and Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) from Tolmie Peak (5939 feet), in Mount Rainier National Park.

Below right: Avalanche Lilies on Tolmie Peak, Mount Rainier National Park

Left: Hiking by Avalanche Lilies on the trail to Tolmie Peak, Mount Rainier National Park.

Below right: A trio of Avalanche Lilies on the trail to Tolmie Peak.

Climbing Mount Rainier:
Climber at the 12,000 foot level on Mount Rainier (14,408 feet summit). My ropemate ascends the Emmons Glacier at 12,000 feet on Mount Rainier, and we later reached the summit at 14,411 feet. The Emmons Glacier terminates at 5,200 feet elevation on left, melting into the White River which eventually flows into Puget Sound. All watersheds in the upper right flow into the Columbia River. The peak on the right is Little Tahoma (11,138 feet). Washington state, USA. [This image won "Honorable Mention, Photo Travel Division" in the Photographic Society of America Inter-Club Competion March 6, 1990.]

Ridges east of Mount Rainier.
Above right: Detail from previous photograph: Cascade Mountain parallel ridges, east of Mount Rainier, Washington.

Skyline Trail, Mount Rainier National Park:

Above: Three hikers explore the Paradise Valley in Mount Rainier National Park. Skyline Trail is one of the great day hikes of the world.

Above: Hikers explore the Skyline Trail in the Paradise Valley, Mount Rainier National Park.

Above: Fall colors at Paradise.

Above: The Skyline Trail offers great views of the Tatoosh Range. Mount Rainier National Park. (Panorama by Tom Dempsey stitched from 3 images.)
Upon request, I can show a wider panorama of the Tatoosh Range.

Above: Blue ridges and fall color in Mount Rainier National Park, seen from the Skyline Trail in the Paradise Valley.

Left: Myrtle Falls on Edith Creek, in the Paradise Valley of Mount Rainier National Park.

Below right: Mount Rainier, seen from the Skyline Trail near Paradise.

Above: Hikers explore the Skyline Trail near the Nisqually Glacier on Mount Rainier.

Left: Hikers explore the Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park with views to the Tatoosh Range and Mount Adams in the distance.

Below right: The meadows of Paradise Valley turn yellow and red in late September beneath Mount Rainier.

Above: Mount Rainier seen from the Paradise Visitor Center parking lot.

Snow on anemone seed heads, Washington Left: Snow on Western Anemone seed heads, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

Above right: Western Anemone seed heads. Washington.

Hikes from Sunrise, Mount Rainier National Park:

Above: Afternoon sun hits Mount Rainier and lupines near Sunrise Visitor Center.

Above: Sunrise Visitor Center, Mount Rainier National Park. Below: Lupines in the meadows at Sunrise Visitor Center.

Below: Lupine flowers near Sunrise Visitor Center, with tree silhouettes and Mount Rainier in the background.

Below: Exploring fields of flowers in Berkeley Park (July 25, 2006), a hike of 6 miles round trip (1800 feet total gain/loss) from Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park.

Above: Lupine and Indian Paintbrush flowers in Berkeley Park (July 25, 2006) in Mount Rainier National Park.
Below: Lodi Creek, white flowers and purple-blue lupine in Berkeley Park (July 25, 2006), in Mount Rainier National Park. Wind blurs some of the flowers in this short time exposure which I chose to smooth the creek waters.

Below: Mount Rainier and Emmons Glacier, as seen from Burroughs Mountain Trail.

Below: Morning sunlight on Mount Rainier and lupines near Sunrise Visitor Center, on the trail to Burroughs Mountain.

See also Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, which has good views of Mount Rainier from the south.

Left: The west side of Mount Rainier seen in winter, from a jet climbing to cruising altitude from SEATAC International airport.

Above: Vine maple fall color in Mount Rainier National Park.

Naches Peak Loop Trail:

Left: Fall shrub colors and Mount Rainier, on the Naches Peak Loop Trail, in Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest.

Below right: Mount Rainier reflected in one of the Tipsoo Lakes, adjacent to the highway at Chinook Pass, in Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest (on the Nache Peak Loop Trail).

Below right: Fall colors in Mount Rainier National Park. (This image available for purchase, with or without a person in the frame.)

Goat Rocks Wilderness Area:

Carol and I hiked a world class scenic loop to Snowgrass Flat and Goat Ridge (13 miles, with 3180 feet total gain), in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The wildflowers were beautiful and bountiful on July 28, 2006.

Hiking Goat Ridge, in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, with Mount Adams in the distance.

Lupine flowers in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area. The peak on the left is Hawkeye Point (7431 feet elevation).

Above: A field of Western Anemone seed heads in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.
Below: Western Anemone seed heads blowing in the wind, in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.

Left: A field of lupine flowers on Goat Ridge, with Mount Rainier seen to the north. (Stitched from two images to capture wider dynamic range between foreground and background.)

Above right: The south side of Mount Rainier, as seen from Goat Ridge.

Below right: Ice still covers most of Goat Lake in late July, Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.

Left: Indian Paintbrush flowers in Snowgrass Flat beneath the Goat Rocks.
Below right: Hiking in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.

Left: The hairy white flower of subalpine (or mountain) mariposa lily, (Calochortus subalpina), in Snowgrass Flat in Goat Rocks Wilderness.
Below right: A marmot in Goat Rocks Wilderness.

Left: Hiking past pink heather flowers in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area. The peak is Hawkeye Point (7431 feet elevation).
Below right: Beargrass growing in Goat Rocks Wilderness.

Above: Hawkeye Point (7431 feet elevation) is the mountain in the upper left, in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.

Above: Heather flowers on Goat Ridge, with Mount Adams in the distance. A lenticular (lens shaped) cloud rides an atmospheric wave in the lee of Mount Adams.

Mount St. Helens:

Above: Located on the flanks of Mount Saint Helens, Spirit Lake was in 1985 still mostly covered with logs, which came from a formerly lush forest which was blasted and avalanched by the May 18, 1980 eruption. (Photographed in summer 1985.)
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in Skamania County, Washington, located 96 miles (154 km) south of the city of Seattle and 53 miles (85 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon. The mountain, part of the Cascade Range, takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, who was a friend of George Vancouver, an explorer who made a survey of the area in the late 18th century. Mount St. Helens is a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes.
The May 18, 1980 eruption was the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. (In 1912, Mount Katmai, Alaska, was the largest volcanic eruption in U.S. history.) Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways and 185 miles (300 km) of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche during the eruption reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 feet (2,950 m) to 8,364 feet (2,550 m), leaving h a mile-wide (1.5 km-wide) horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche, of up to 0.7 cubic miles (2.3 km³) in volume, was the largest in recorded history. (However, the size of the blast and debris avalanche were smaller than many others known in the geological past elsewhere on Earth.)

Left: Volcanic Mount St. Helens steams in the distance as seen from Snowgrass Flat in Goat Rocks Wilderness.

Below right: A plume of steam escapes from volcanic Mount St. Helens, as seen from Goat Ridge.

Above: Five years after the May 18, 1980 eruption, a low green growth of vegetation was beginning to reclaim the blast zone of Mount Saint Helens.

Mount Adams:

Above: Mount Adams, seen from Goat Ridge in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.

Left: Mount Adams can match the beauty of any Washington volcano. Mount Adams Wilderness Area, Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

For more views of Mount Adams, see also: Skyline Trail , Goat Rocks

Recommended hiking guidebooks: The "Hikes" series published by The Mountaineers, Seattle.

Washington Map:

Page 6: Southwest Washington: Mt. Rainier , Goat Rocks , Mt. Adams , Mt. St. Helens

Index to Washington: Page 0: Highlights ~ map ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7

Page 1: Seattle Area: Seattle ( fireworks , Space Needle & EMP , University of Washington ) ; Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island

Copyright 1982-2008 by Tom Dempsey. Photographs may not be copied without permission.
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