Mt. Rainier National Park (4/5): Lower Skyline Trail

After checking into the Paradise Lodge, the clouds were still completely obscuring Mt. Rainier, leaving me without much of a plan for the rest of the day, so I figured I’d just aimlessly wander the lower Skyline Trail and just photograph whatever looked interesting!  Even without being able to see the mountain itself, I was sure that I’d be able to find some wicked scenes to photograph.

With that in mind, I decided to do a quick walk up to Myrtle Falls and Edith Creek. I was up there the past summer, but I only had my iPhone with me that time, so I knew I’d be able to get WAY better photos this time around.

Walked up a little further to see what else I could find.  The clouds clearly were not going to leave Mt. Rainier but looking south towards the Tatoosh Range was another story entirely. Definitely some majestic photo ops here!

And of course, no hike along the lower Skyline Trail would be complete without seeing some Hoary Marmots!

I returned to Paradise Lodge afterwards, slammed an overpriced yet delicious IPA, and waited for night to fall on the mountain. After capturing a sweet photo of the National Park Inn in Longmire the night before, why not get an equally cool photo of the Paradise Lodge!

The weather was still making it tough to plan the next morning’s hike. It had to be a quick one because I had the long drive home that same day. Might be more waterfall chasing, but who knows!