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Very early Tuesday morning we left for the airport and our flight to Seattle - which went far more smoothly than Jan's flight last Thursday! We picked up our rental car at the Seattle airport and headed south.

Here's our first clear view of Mt. Rainier. It is 14,411 feet tall, contains more rock mass than any other mountain in North America, and has more active glaciers (26) than any other mountain in North America.

Our destination was Paradise - the historic old park hotel within Mt. Rainier National Park where we were to spend the first two nights. The drive was lovely, with deep woods...

lovely waterfalls...

(this is Christine Falls)

and wonderful views. This is a view of the Nisqually Glacier on the side of Mt. Rainier. Well, actually we were a bit late to see the glacier - it retreated around the bend in 2002. In 1840, it extended below the bridge in the photo. But it appears to be advancing again, so it may appear around the bend again soon.

Mt. Rainier keep peeking through the wispy clouds surrounding it, so we had many wonderful views.

The views were lovely, with the mountains receding into the mist.

The colors of the scree on this mountain were interesting.

More lovely waterfalls...

Rich, Alan, and Jan at Narada Falls.

Once we got to Paradise, we took a short hike along the Nisqually Visa Trail. Mt. Rainier was visible many places along the trail.

And at last we really did see Nisqually Glacier.

The wildflowers along the trail were profuse and lovely.

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