Snow and Waterfalls on The Road to Paradise in Mt Rainier National Park
A great friend of mine who lives up in Camano Island north of Seattle took me out to explore Mount Rainier NP. We wanted to see some Waterfalls, but knew the snow was probably going to prevent this. Fortunately, we did sneak in a few of the waterfalls of Mt. Raininer and saw a LOT of beautiful snow all the way up the mountain.
We stopped to see Carter’s Falls, but realized that without some snow shoes we would never make it down to the base. We did get to start taking some pictures of the beauty all around.
On the left we saw the upper portions of Christine Falls.
The majority of the waterfall is below the bridge and was not accessible, but there is a great view of the bridge itself from the parking area on the side of the road.
Continuing on, it was just plain beautiful from the car!
Even better out of the car with more incredible views – love those trees!
Stopped at the barren parking lot for Narada Falls, but the trail down to the bottom was not accessible with all this beautiful snow.
You can stand very close to the top of the falls and peer down the 176 foot drop. More great views from that vantage point, too.
Eventually, we made it as far as you could go during this time of the year – to Paradise!
On a very clear day you can see to the top of the mountain like this picture, but on this trip these are the best pictures I could take. Look closely and you can see the peak!
Turning around 180 degrees and facing south offered this INCREDIBLE view!!!
Heading back down offered more scenic views.
They include seeing the Nisqually Glacier while driving over the Nisqually River.
Continuing on back down the way we came in, we stopped at Longmire for some souvenir shopping.
And yes… for a few moments I almost got a clear picture of the summit!
It was a trip seeing all the history that has happened since this tree started growing way back in 1293.
Then it was time to take in a small hike along the Trail of the Shadows. Of course, it started snowing as soon as we got started.
Great time for a selfie!
Some of the trail was sheltered from the snow by the tall trees.
Not too far in was a couple of downed trees and a chance to just cut bait and turn around.
I’m glad we pushed on and saw some other nice sights along the way.
This included the mysterious twisted trees. Several different thoughts on why this happens, but seems there isn’t consensus. Either way, they look pretty darn cool. Speaking of “cool”, it was getting pretty cold with the wind blowing the snow at a 45 degree angle.
The views just kept coming on the trail loop.
Oh yeah… the snow kept stepping up and up. Thankfully, we made it back to the parking lot before becoming frozen statues!
On the way back out of the park, we treated to an unnamed little waterfall as a special bonus.
Speaking of Waterfalls, I look forward to returning to Mount Rainier one summer to take in all the beautiful waterfalls here in this majestic National Park.