A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Do I need to say anything else?

I rented a car this morning and drove two hours to Mt. Rainier.  Remember that mountain that looked as if it were merely painted into the Seattle landscape?  Well, it does exist as I saw it up close and personal and it was incredible.  Mt. Rainier is a towering ice-clad volcano standing 14,411 feet tall.  There are at least a dozen glaciers on the mountain.  Some of which you can see here.

It was truly remarkable.  Even standing at Paradise point, a mere 5,400 feet up, Mt. Rainier continued to feel like an illusion.  Although currently dormant, the mountain is not extinct.   There were signs all around the park telling you what to do in case of an eruption.  Run uphill.  Run fast.  That was basically the gist.

Mt. Rainier has endured some small volcanic eruptions within the past 500 years.  Lying across its eastern side, you can still see the red on the rocks from previous lava flows.

With such breathtaking views I wanted to make phone calls and share this experience.  I reached for my cell phone and realized that I did not have any service.  Probably for the best, I thought, the idea of everyone running around on cell phones in this serene environment did seem a bit absurd.

Over several hours I hiked a few trails which included additional impressive views...

This magnificent sight was found at Nisqually Falls.  Look closely and you will be able to see the rainbow.

It was also my goal today to travel another two hours south to Mt. St. Helens.  I should have traveled here first, because although impressive in its own way, it did not compare to Mt. Rainier.

A little more than half the height of its sister to the north, Mt. St. Helens stands at 8,365 feet and last erupted in May 1980.

I drove back to Seattle, stopping briefly in the capitol city of Olympia.  Tomorrow I will say farewell to Seattle and begin my drive east towards Idaho.

A note of thanks to Kramer for the use of his GPS and to John for the use of his laptop.  Both have made my life out here much easier.  Thanks also to those of you who have sent me emails, text messages or posted comments to the blog.  It's nice to hear from all of you as well.....so keep them coming.   One particular text was rather amusing this week, which I received from my cousin Tom.  It said - "have fun.  behave.  badly."  I'll see what I can do Tom.  I have a feeling that my time in Arizona with friends from Massachusetts and cousins from Texas may enable me to fulfill that request.