My last trip to Mount Rainier was so monumental I couldn’t get back there quick enough. To round out the end of my 4 day weekend I wrangled up a hiking buddy and headed south. Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to Rainier we go!
The weather was a perfect 75ish in the mountain range, with sun sun sun. The only clouds in the sky waited to make an appearance until we were ready to leave.
How kind, I made sure to thank them before we left. “Thank you clouds.”
This time I took a trail that led away from the mountain through fields of wildflowers, marmots, and enough chipmunks to build me a Cinderella like dress. The destination was Reflection Lake, I’ll let you figure out how it got its name.
Round trip we probably meandered for about 7 miles and ended up being spit out onto the road, where we discovered Reflection Lake was a spot most people drove to.
What can I say, I like to do things the hard way.
I’ve decided Rainier is one of my top spots for adventure these days. The endless trails enveloping this mountain require days of exploration.
One of my goals is to hike up to Camp Muir, the highest point you can climb without a climbing permit. Muir sits at a lovely 10,080 ft, and is a grueling 8 mile round trip climb. I hear it’s harder than a half marathon. Perhaps it’s a good thing I’ve got six of those under my belt.
After I accomplish Muir, to the top I must go.
Post Rainier shenangans my hiking partner was hung-ray so we stopped for a road side burger. I noticed a guy picking what looked like small green chickpeas from a nearby flower plant, and naturally had to inquire about what he was doing.
Turns out they were seeds for the above flower known as NASTURTIUMS. “One of the few edible flowers in this area.” And then he ate one…so I ate one too. Nothing like trusting a stranger at a small town burger stop eating flowers.
HO-LY SPI-CY. Like, peppery spicy. I Googled the flower and sure enough the flavor is described as: “peppery spice similar to watercress.” I don’t think I’ll be sprinkling these on my salads anytime soon. First hiking to a location that you can drive to, second eating flowers with strangers, clearly I like to live my life on the wild side. 😉
Q: Have you ever eaten edible flowers?
