Some days, the mountains are calling... and this week, instead of finding a nearby peak to hike, we decided to challenge ourselves with a new altitude, mountain and terrain at Mt. Rainier.
We had been thinking about the day that we'd find ourselves at Mt. Rainier since we arrived in the Northwest, but even with everything we had seen and heard about it in Seattle, nothing could have prepared us for how majestic it is up close.
Unfortunately, because it's autumn in the Northwest, and because Mt. Rainier at 14,410 feet above sea level creates it's own weather patterns, we were met with elusive fog, rain and hail early in our hike, and I was unable to capture a photo of it. You're just going to have to trust me on this one!
Mt. Rainier, behind a wall of clouds.
We arrived at Paradise at Mt. Rainier at 5,400 feet, and decided to do a hike on the Skyline Trail loop, as we only had time for one, with the weather changing quickly.
We had only been on the trail for about 25 minutes, and were still on our way to Glacier Vista before a wall of fog came.
Luckily, we were at a good stopping point on the trail to stay there awhile and take in the beautiful scenery. The way the fog was rolling in felt magical, and actually became one of our favorite moments we've had hiking together - ever!
We pushed through the fog and into a storm filled with 30 mph wind, rain and hail until we arrived at Glacier Vista at 6,300 ft.
As is evident in the photos, by the time we arrived, there wasn't much that could be seen. The storm was unrelenting, so we decided to call it a day.
Mt. Rainier and Mother Nature may have won this time, but as we began to loop back down to Paradise, we promised ourselves we'd be back on another adventure here, when there's better weather in the Spring.