Friday, August 22:  We headed out at 9:30 in the morning and drove 56 miles to Mt. Rainier National Park. The first stretch was through quite a few small towns and there was one stretch of mountain driving about halfway there so the drive took about 1-1/2 hours. The morning was quite cool and very cloudy so we weren’t sure if we would get to see the mountain but we thought it was worth a try.

Along the way we noticed how many of the rivers and lakes were almost completely dry. There was obvious evidence of the drought they have been experiencing everywhere we looked.

Our first stop was at the Longmire Visitor Center where we had a coffee break and looked through a small museum showcasing the history of the park.

Our first photo stop of the day was at Christine Falls. Jim took some great stills and video there. We were glad to see this waterfall was flowing nicely and the spot was very lovely.

The next stop was at Narada Falls. We ate our lunch in the car because the area was quite busy and the picnic tables were right next to the road. Then we took the fairly steep hike down to the viewing area. We took some photo/video part of the way down and then finished the hike.

The skies were just starting to break up just a little so we waited a bit, taking some nice photos but waiting to see if the rainbow we had been told about would show up in the waterfall. About ten minutes later the sun peaked through for the first time and we could see the rainbow! We were able to get some great photos and video of the waterfall and rainbow.

Another two miles of almost continuous hairpin curves brought us to the area of the park called Paradise.

The skies up there were completely cloud covered but we were hoping they would break up enough before we had to head back and maybe we would get a peak at the mountain.

Are you sure there is a mountain up there?

We stayed there a little over three hours total. We had a nice coffee break in the Lodge and walked around some taking some great photos of the wildflowers that were everywhere. We visited the gift shops and the Visitor Center exhibits. We walked back to the Lodge and enjoyed listening to a pianist in the lobby and then back to the Visitor Center for supper in the cafe. All along the skies were clearing and we could see the mountains now all around except for the one we came to see.

I was almost ready to return the mug I bought with a picture of Mt. Rainier because it looked like false advertising. Was there really a mountain behind those clouds? We were going to give it to 6:00 and just as we started heading to the car a few minutes after 6:00 a patch of blue and a sliver of the edge of the mountain appeared so we waited a little more.

Boy were we glad we did! Over the next half hour more and more of the mountain emerged from the clouds and by the time we left we could see almost all of it.

As we were watching the mountain reveal itself a lady sat near us and started a conversation. She had come from Ohio, hiked on the mountain for 5 hours and her comment on finally seeing the mountain was “Is that it?” She proceeded to get out her selfie stick, sit with her back to the mountain so she could take a photo of herself and then off she went. She represented the majority of the people we have witnessed all along on this trip … more impressed with themselves and taking more time to take their own photo than to appreciate the awesome splendor right behind them. So sad.

On the way back we stopped at a turn out where we could see the whole mountain golden in the sunset and farther along on our way back there was a fantastic view of the mountain bathed in pink light of sunset. Our prayers were answered and God was so very good to us again. And He does create the most amazing beauty in His mountains!!