We headed up to Mt Rainier National Park for a hike today. We choose Shriner Peak on the east side. This is a great conditioning hike, about 9 - 10 mile round trip with 3,400 ft of elevation gain.
The hike starts off in the woods and begins to climb immediately.
About 2 miles up the trail, the trees thin out and we found many ripe wild strawberries. They are delicious, they continued for about 2/3 of a mile.
We saw many butterflies today, some rested long enough to get photos. One hitch hiked on my sister's hiking pole.
About 3 miles from the trailhead, we began to see Mt Rainier.
Shortly after the next switchback, as we continued to climb through the beargrass fields we could see Shriner Peak in the distance, letting us know we still had about another 1,500 ft of elevation gain to go.
The views got better and better as we continued to hike up the trail.
The is a lookout at the top of Shriner Peak. A good place to sit in the shade on a hot day and enjoy the views.
While we were eating lunch, this humming bird flew right in front of us then sat on this branch long enough for me to get a picture.
To the south we could see Mt Adams, but it was very hazy from the wild fires in eastern Washington.
To the west, Mt Rainier from the lookout.
The smaller peaks in the Cascades from the north to east to south.
Some of the many wildflowers we saw on the hike today:
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