14,411 feet

Mount Rainier National Park

JULY 19–21, 2026 · 32 PHOTOGRAPHS

Three days on the mountain, most of it from Paradise. We drove in the first evening, settled into the old inn, and woke to a black bear in the meadow before we had really started. The Skyline Trail gave us the summit and the wildflowers at once; the afternoons went to waterfalls, Reflection Lakes, and Silver Falls. On the last morning we crossed to the Sunrise side, climbed Sourdough Ridge, and pointed the car back to Seattle.

Mount Rainier in the distance beyond a rail yard.

The mountain showed up long before we did.

16:42
A young deer on a brushy hillside.

A deer on the roadside as we came in for the night.

18:41
A large timber lodge with cars parked in front.

Paradise Inn, home for two nights.

18:59 · Paradise Inn
A woman smiling with a coffee cup, stone wall behind.

Coffee before we started up.

08:26 · Paradise Inn
Mount Rainier's snowy summit above a line of firs.
08:33 · Paradise
A black bear feeding in a green subalpine meadow.

A black bear working the meadow below the trail. We gave it plenty of room.

08:44 · Paradise
A green subalpine slope with scattered firs.
08:46 · Paradise
An animal partly hidden in meadow brush.
08:46 · Paradise
A waterfall dropping down a rocky mountainside.

Myrtle Falls, just off the Skyline Trail.

08:52 · Myrtle Falls
Mount Rainier above a wildflower meadow with hikers on a trail.

The mountain finally out, wildflowers and all, on the Skyline Trail.

08:53 · Skyline Trail
A family on a trail with mountains behind.

The five of us on the way up.

08:58 · Skyline Trail
Two boys standing on rocks, one pointing.
09:01 · Skyline Trail
A timber lodge with a family posing in front.

Back at the inn between hikes.

09:26 · Paradise Inn
A steep ridge and valley with firs and a distant glacier.

The valley dropping away below the trail.

10:25
A boy inside a naturally formed hole in a large boulder.

Lucas found a hole worn clean through a big rock and climbed up into it.

10:43
A family selfie with jagged peaks in the background.

All of us with the Tatoosh Range behind.

11:16
A family selfie, the boys making faces.
11:16
A wolf spider on a lichen-covered rock.

A wolf spider the size of my thumb, sunning on the rock.

11:26
A calm lake ringed by forest below the mountain.

Reflection Lakes, almost still enough to double the mountain.

11:30 · Reflection Lakes
A woman and a teenage boy on a trail.
11:33
Two hikers scrambling up a rocky trail.
12:59 · Silver Falls
Hikers on a trail beside a stack of logs.
13:01 · Silver Falls
A waterfall rushing through dark rock.

Silver Falls, cold and loud.

13:02 · Silver Falls
A man and woman taking a selfie in green forest.
13:19
A sharp rocky peak above a stand of firs.
18:18
Two children hiking up a trail with backpacks.
18:18
A family on steps beside a wide waterfall.

The family at Narada Falls in the evening light.

19:23 · Narada Falls
A tall tree trunk with a long strip of bark peeled away.
20:07
A deer standing on a forest trail.

A deer on the trail as we headed back.

20:15
A lake seen from a dusty trail overlook.

Snow Lake, a short climb in on our last morning.

10:10 · Snow Lake
A man taking a selfie on a trail.
10:10 · Snow Lake
A boy standing on a dusty ridge trail with peaks beyond.

Up on Sourdough Ridge before the long drive back.

13:54 · Sunrise