Rampart Ridge

Drove up to Mt Rainier National Park today and discovered they decided not to open the road up to Paradsie, so changed plans to hike up Rampart Ridge to the view of Mt Rainier and back, 4.5 miles round trip with 1,300 ft of gain. Lovely forest with some peek a boo views of other nearby peaks. View of Mt Rainier from the Trail of Shadows on the way to Rampart Ridge

Lovely forest hike with very little snow

view of Mt Rainier from Longmire

Titlow Park

This morning I drove to Titlow Park in Tacoma to walk the trails, I did the trails twice for a total of 4 miles. I walked around the Lagoon Loop, then over to the beach, up and back along Hidden Beach, then did the large loop trail. A beautiful day with birds and seals.

Views around the Lagoon Loop

views along the dock and Hidden Beach

Cooper's Hawk

Killdeer

Hooded Mergansers

Eurasian wigeons

Glacier Vista Snowshoe

Beautiful day to go up to Paradise at Mt Rainier National Park to snowshoe up to Glacier Vista and back, 2.6 miles round trip with 1,000 ft of gain. Not many people at Paradise today. Gorgeous views all around

zoom of Old Snowy in the Goat Rocks

zoom of Mt Adams

zoom of Mt St Helens

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

This morning, I went to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and walked on various trails for 4.5 miles. Because it was foggy, I started along the Twins Barn Loop Trail going to the Riparian Forest and Nisqually River Overlooks, before taking the Estuary Boardwalk Trail out to the end and then finishing the Twinds Barn Loop back to the parking area. The pond behind the Visitor Center

Forest views in the riparian area:

Views along the Estuary Boardwalk Trail at low tide today

Lots of bald eagles out this morning, here is one in the distance

some of the shorebirds seen this morning