We drove up to Paradise to see the wildflowers in bloom amongst the gorgeous views. Decided to make a big loop along the outskirts by going up the Deadhorse Creek Trail, across the Skyline Loop Trail over to Mazama Ridge and then take the Lakes Loop Trail down to Reflection Lakes and back up to Paradise. This loop was 9.5 miles with 2,500 ft of gain/loss. We started going up the Deadhorse Creek Trail before 8am and didn't see many people until we reached the junction up on the Skyline Trail. Mt Rainier in the morning light with a meadow filled with lupine.
There were lots of avalanche lilies in bloom along the lower portions of this trail.
Many paintbrush filled some of the meadows.
I love this section of the trail with wildflowers in bloom and Mt Rainier emerging in view.
As the trail gains elevation we would have better and better views of the Tatoosh Range to the south.
Wonderful mixture of wildflowers: pasqueflower seedbeds, lupine, paintbrush and heather.
Such a wonderful day at Paradise kept smiles on our faces throughout the day!
Continuing up the trail, we were hiking into the views of Mt Rainier, while
turning around to enjoy the views of the Tatoosh Range as well.
One of many marmots we saw up at Paradise.
We heard an avalanche, and
were amazed at the amount of water pouring off the glacier.
As we hiked up towards Panorama Point, there were wildflowers growing among the rocks.
We had great views of Mt Rainier and the Tatoosh Range, but the Goat Rocks, Mt Adams and Mt St Helens were very hazy to the far south.
Lots of ground squirrels on the trail, we adhere to leave no trace principles and did not feed or get close to any of the animals. Photos of wildlife are in zoom mode.
Wide angle view of Mt Rainier from above Panorama Point
lots of monkeyflowers in bloom along a small creek
There are still snow patches along the Skyline Trail, we crossed the ones that were over the trail.
Looking down to Sluiskin Falls
Marmot on watch along the trail.
Mt Rainier reflecting in the Paradise River along the Skyline Trail
The wildflowers become prolific as we descend down the trail
Lots of pasqueflower seedbeds
The Skyline Trail heads south as it goes down the upper portions of Mazama Ridge, we would hike down into these views of the Tatoosh Range for awhile.
marmot resting in the shade under a tree
The majority of the hikers continued down the Skyline Trail back to Paradise, while we hiked down Mazama Ridge on the Lakes Trail. We saw very view people here in these beautiful wildflower meadows.
We remembered to look back to views of Mt Rainier,
while we enjoyed the views of the Tatoosh Range in front of us.
We saw some pink lupine in the meadow.
As the trail dropped down into the forest, we passed a couple of ponds.
View of Lake Louise below us at Faraway Rock
The trail briefly joins the Wonderland Trail as it goes by Reflection Lakes.
We found some benches along the trail to stop and take a lunch break.
As we continued up the Lakes Trail to Paradise, we were mostly in the forest, with some peekaboo views of Mt Rainier.
There were more avalanche lilies in bloom along with some woodland wildflowers.
We crossed the Paradise River on a log bridge and saw this lovely waterfall.
Orange Paintbrush and purple asters in bloom near the trop of the trail back at Paradise.some of the wildflowers seen along the trail today:
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