Mt Rainier

Just a note: today has been so fast and full of stuff that I'm splitting today into two separate posts. See Part One here.


After Deception Pass, we headed off to...(drum roll please), Mt. Rainier! That's right--I got to go see a real glacier on top of an active volcano!

Now, here's the thing about Washington. When you step in to one of the forests there, you are instantly transported back in time. I would not have been surprised to see a dinosaur step out of the scenery. There's a reason I tag the forests I've been to under the tag "the deep primordial forests of the Pacific Northwest" and that's because I feel like there is no human impact. This, despite the blacktop under my feet, the camera in my hand, and the sound of whizzing cars behind me. The forest takes you and sucks you in. It is so large and you are so tiny, so insignificant to its majesty that you cannot help but have the air stolen from your lungs.

Photoshop in a dinosaur and we're good to go

And yet, despite the regal bearing of the tree, there is nothing that keeps me from flinging my dignity, and self, to hug it.

And this tree was pretty...diminished!

...or climbing, posing, and quite a few more things.

Once you get a little bit up the mountain and through the first "layer" (so to speak) of trees, you get quite a breath-taking vista.

Because the National Park Service knows me so well, there are various "look out points" where you can park the car and take pictures like mad. You all know me well enough that I took several camera cards full of pictures, but here are some of my better ones.

Not even a moving car can stop me from taking pictures! If you have a fast enough shutter speed and enough light, you can get some pretty good ones!

It was somewhat cloudy, so I have been assured that this isn't the best view of the Reflection Lake, but I was impressed nonetheless!

And then we made it up to the end of the road. It was walking from there. I was so excited when I saw the glacier!

The meltwater from the glacier runs down the mountain, causing these quite picturesque streams and waterfalls.
 

Can you tell I'm super excited about the waterfalls?

The sun was setting as we headed back down, back to Seattle, to the plane, to the cross national flight to my family's new place in Massachusetts.

Thank you, Washington state. You have helped me set the stage for my life and I will be eternally grateful.

Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island

Today I got a special treat. I got taken to Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island! Only having a bike, I wasn't looking forward to braving the mountain (still kinda out of shape here!), but my friend with a car took me on quite a ride.

We went over to Orcas Island via ferry. It was quite picturesque (Orcas Island is in the far off horizon in the center). I didn't quite grasp how many islands there are in the San Juans. There are more than quite a few, and that's not including the little half-rock islands.

The front of the ferry. The ground is the loading docks for the cars--there's several layers of garages where people can park and transport their cars

 One thing we saw but I didn't (gasp!) photograph was this little island with a house on it. That's all it was, a house in a grove of trees and (I'm guessing) a dock on the other side. On one hand, so pretty! On the other hand, I can't ever imagine living there. Maybe as a summer home, but living on an island alone means that you'd have to constantly be checking up on it. What a hassle for a summer home. What a lonely existence for a residential home. If I ever get rich, I will not be buying an island, that's for sure!

The first thing I noticed was how big the trees were. I'm not kidding--these things were HUGE. And everything was so green. I think some of it is the lichen and some of it is because this is a deep, primordial forest and I kept expecting to see dinosaurs come out of it or something, but this was the most beautiful forest I have ever seen. I was awestruck, though that didn't stop me from taking pictures.

Huge, I tell you!

 Our first stop in State Moran park was this look out. How gorgeous!

Can you tell how thrilled I am?

At the top of the mountain (2,409 feet) is an observatory looking tower that has a panoramic view of the islands, Washington, and Canada. So, obviously I had to go take pictures.

It's so steep to get up!

but the view is FANTASTIC

On our way down, I could not stop marveling at the trees and I had us stop for a bit of posing. These are seriously big. I almost can't conceive how big they are. Just take a look...

I am fascinated by this. Like I can't even begin to comprehend how big this tree is

On our way out, we saw this mother and faun couple. Aren't they cute?

And you can't go to Orcas Island without seeing the giant metal orca. You just can't!