Perfect Day
Owyhigh Lakes and Governor's Ridge, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
I hiked to these lakes today and except for some haze due to wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada, it was a "picture perfect" day at Mount Rainier National Park.
This is one of my favorite early summer hikes because it melts out earlier than most higher elevation hikes. The first 3.3 miles climbs up through a lovely forest with huge trees, the sound of the river in the background, and the summer scent of a sun-warmed coniferous forest. Then abruptly the forest ends and suddenly, as if passing through a door to another world, you're in a beautiful and wondrous subalpine meadow full of mountains and flowers. Hiking a bit further takes you to the basin where a pair of lakes lies in front of the rocky rise of Governor's Ridge. I spent a long time in the meadow and basin today enjoying the beautiful weather and soaking in the views.
(On a side note, I'm posting the pano shot I took with my phone because it is a bit of a personal 'triumph' for me. I am notoriously terrible with taking phone pano shots - for some reason keeping the arrow on the line while moving the phone is quite challenging for me. Lol But I finally got one to turn out so I felt like I had to post it!)
Perfect Day
Owyhigh Lakes and Governor's Ridge, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
I hiked to these lakes today and except for some haze due to wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada, it was a "picture perfect" day at Mount Rainier National Park.
This is one of my favorite early summer hikes because it melts out earlier than most higher elevation hikes. The first 3.3 miles climbs up through a lovely forest with huge trees, the sound of the river in the background, and the summer scent of a sun-warmed coniferous forest. Then abruptly the forest ends and suddenly, as if passing through a door to another world, you're in a beautiful and wondrous subalpine meadow full of mountains and flowers. Hiking a bit further takes you to the basin where a pair of lakes lies in front of the rocky rise of Governor's Ridge. I spent a long time in the meadow and basin today enjoying the beautiful weather and soaking in the views.
(On a side note, I'm posting the pano shot I took with my phone because it is a bit of a personal 'triumph' for me. I am notoriously terrible with taking phone pano shots - for some reason keeping the arrow on the line while moving the phone is quite challenging for me. Lol But I finally got one to turn out so I felt like I had to post it!)