Mt.Rainier

We loved Mt.Rainier and I loved being warm and dry in the Lodge. As a birthday present Matt booked us a room in the lodge so we didn't have to camp. Don't get me wrong I love camping but in the cold it's really not my favorite. Plus they had a great deal on the room so it was a win win for all.  Every where you turn here was a fantastic picture. We saw lots of wildlife and went on some great hikes in the area. We didn't tackle the mountain but did enjoy all of it's views.

This was our view when we drove in to the park, so I was really glad we had a room at this point. Luckily it did clear up so we could see the giant mount that we were just at the base of but could not see.

Yeah it cleared up! Nice and sunny finally in WA

I have really come to love seeing the American flag all over the place during out travels.   This country really is America the beautiful. 

Mt.Rainier and yes that is snow on the ground.

On our hike to a waterfall

There was lots of snow on our trail that we were not expecting

What the neige? 

This place is gorgeous, it took us a while to get to where we were going because we had to take pictures all the time!

This was just a part of the big waterfall that we were making our way to.

The waterfall, I can't remember what it was called but it is worth hiking to for sure

Matt just told me it's called Narada falls

We then kept on hiking to this lake.

We also saw a marmot! We went to this overlook and Matt says "there's a marmot" and thinking that it was really far away I shouted "where?" looking down below us into the distance and this little guy was literally right next to me! He was super cute. If you are there in the summer look for these guys on the rocks they like to sunbathe there.

Another hike near the lodge that was  "paved" mostly snowy but it had such incredible views

At one of the view points

We also saw a little pond full of frogs

And more frogs to come! These were all the froggy eggs and you could see some of the tadpoles moving in their sacks it was really cool,

All clean and dolled up in a national park?! Very rare occasion for us, but it was birthday dinner time!

Playing a little five crowns before dinner

Part of the lodge

Just enjoying the lodge lobby and reading by the fire.

The view from our room

Reflection lake living up to its name

On a trail to the ancient grove

Not as big as the Redwoods but still very impressive

This was on our way to Spokane we saw these wild horse statues on  a hill we pulled over to get a closer look. As I was trying to get closer to them I thought I will just hike all the way up it's not that far. It was actually pretty steep and the dirt was dry and loose so it made for a difficult climb. They were pretty cool metal statues though.

And a great view.