Yes, this is the mountain that Ranier beer is named after. Next time you are throwing back a tallboy - check out the mountain image on the can.
This spring, @raised2b and I booked a cozy cabin at the base of Mount Ranier and enjoyed a nice weekend of relaxing and hiking. Because it was early in the season, we didn't have to go too far to find some powdery snow to play in.
Mount Ranier is a demanding precence in the skyline and we were lucky to stumble across this hike with unobstructed views of the mountain.
Well... technically it wasn't a hiking trail.
It was meant for those snowshoeing, but we slugged through snow that was knee deep at times to enjoy the views. It was actually one of the hottest weekends we ended up having all year - hitting almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This meant that even though we were hiking in snow, it actually got pretty warm and we were able to hike in t-shirts and tank tops. I even put a little sun screen on my face to keep from burning!
The sun can really reflect off the snow and accelerate sun exposure. It may be counter-intuitive to think about putting on sun screen while in the snow, but any snowboarder or skier will tell you the risk of burning on a sunny day.
Once you get to lower elevations, there is MASSIVE water flowing - which made for some pretty intense waterfalls. As snow starts to melt, it creates runoff which feeds into river headwaters and helps supply our drinking water. Even though this is a predictable cycle of water flow with the seasons, it is still pretty cool to witness the raw power of this cycle in action.
The trails leading up the waterfall were lush and full of beautiful foliage. It's like the trees were just starting to wake up for the spring and were eager to please hikers passing by. It was too early for wild flowers or berries, but I would love to come back sometime around August to witness them in their full glory. The big, snowy bank you see in the mountain pictures would be totally melted and bursting with flowers later in the summer.
As we approached the waterfall, we could hear the boom of water pounding ahead. What started as a small creek we could cross with a bridge, quickly turned to faster moving white water. We got to witness this change in the river as we hiked along.
This was my first time visiting the Mount Ranier National Forest and I was thrilled at the many beautiful hikes. We ended up doing about four hikes in total and we barely scratched the surface of cool spots to discover. We even got to witness an entire island filled with old growth trees.
Now that winter is staring to set in, i'm definitely dreaming about spring hikes again. Thanks for checking out my post and I hope you enjoyed it!
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