Paradise Glacier — Friday, Sep. 19, 1997

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

We had waited until the weather forcast was perfect to take our annual trip to Mount Rainier. We arrived at Paradise around noon and spent the afternoon enjoying the fantastic views from the Paradise Glacier trail. There were mobs of people--the parking lot completely full and cars parked all the way down the road to Paradise Valley. But once we headed up from the lower meadows they thinned out considerably. By the time we reached the ""moonscape"" area leading to the view of the glacier, we hardly saw anyone. Since there was quite a bit of snow, (much more than last year at this time when we hiked this same trail) we didn't go to the end of the trail, but crossed a short snowfield and climbed to a great overlook at about 6400 feet. Mount Adams, St. Helens, and Hood were perfectly clear in the distance. The higher meadows are beginning to turn to Fall colors, although we still found quite a few flowers left--especially lupines. Nearly everyone we passed on the way down seemed ecstatic over the beauty of the day.