We drove up to Paradise at Mt Rainier National Park to see the wildflowers on a drizzly, cloudy day. There were no views of the mountain today, so the trails were not crowded and the parking lots remained less than 1/2 full the time we were there. We started by hiking dow the Lakes Trail from Paradise to Reflection Lakes, then up the Lakes Trail on Mazama Ridge. We continued on the Skyline Trail, down on the Golden Gate Trail, across the Waterfall Trail and out on the Deadhorse Creek Trail. Overall about 7.5 miles with 1,700 ft of loss/gain.
Shortly past the upper Paradise parking area is the trail down to Reflection Lakes on the Lakes Trail. 
We saw some wildflowers in bloom along the upper portions of this trail.
a pond shortly before reaching Reflection Lakes
view of one of the Reflection Lakes
fireweed, paintbrush and pearly everlasting at the end of the other Reflection Lakes
We found and ate ripe huckleberries along the trail
There were no views at Faraway Rock today.one of the ponds along the Lakes Trail, this one near Faraway Rock
We started to see fields of wildflowers from here north, up along Mazama Ridge.
This was my first time to hike on this trail without snow, it is a beautiful trail!
another one of the ponds
We could smell the lupine as we continued up this trail.
another pond
Love seeing the bright pops of color, paintbrush brings.
This side of the Lakes Trail is a gentle ascent up through the trees and fields of wildflowers.
so lovely!
Pasqueflowers gone to seed heads in front of a field oof wildflowers.
The fields were dense with wildflowers.
We were not in a hurry, took our time, sauntering along the trail
We only saw about 6 people on this side of the loop.
lots of luscious lupine
heather in bloom along upper Mazama Ridge
Continuing on the Lakes Loop up Mazama Ridge
The Lakes Trail joins the Skyline Loop Trail, here on our way north.
Beautiful wildflowers on a misty day.
Marmot seen in the rocks along the Skyline Trail.
As there were no views of the mountain today, we opted to leave the Skyline Trail to hike down the Golden Gate Trail, which I heard had lots of wildflowers in bloom.
We saw several marmots along the Golden Gate Trail.
zoom of marmots
We also saw a marmot next to the trail eating lupine.
More wildflowers along the Golden Gate Trail
Where the Golden Gate Trail rejoins the Skyline Trail near Edith Creek, we saw this marmot atop of a small hill.
Along Edith Creek
There were only 2 other people at the viewpoint for Myrtle Falls, so we stopped to enjoy the view.
Between Myrtle Falls and the upper parking are at Paradise there were quite a few people (nothing as many as on a sunny day), so we quickly hiked over to the Deadhorse Creek Trail to return to the lower parking area. 
The Deadhorse Creek Trail is one of my favorites for wildflower blooms!
We saw this stellar jay in the lower parking area.
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