Mount Rainier

Tag: Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier – Reflection Lake

Posted at 7:35 AM by Brittany, on August 20, 2015

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?

| 43 Comments Tagged Adventure, Explore, Flowers, Hike, Mount Rainier, PNW, Washington

Posted at 7:46 AM by Brittany, on July 7, 2015

Does anyone remember back in January when I had my first public, “I can’t even” moment? For those of you that don’t know what this means, (mom) it’s an abused phrase that I really can’t stand, yet found myself using…again.

A phrase used when something is so monumental that “I can’t even” think of words to describe how I feel. All that comes out is “I can’t even.”

I was so enraptured by the wonder that is Mount Rainier that I really had no words, just feelings. Lots of feelings. Like the kind you get when you are eating cake.

I’d been wanting to make my way to Mount Rainier National Park for quite some time now. On most of my hikes this volcanic mountain is what I search for off in the far distance as it’s the highest mountain in Washington.

It was indescribable to be this close to it.

This park is so big that I was overwhelmed with where to start exploring. Thankfully I have adventurous friends that also like to explore, and when one of them asked if I wanted to go hike a specific trail I didn’t think twice before saying yes.

Plus my dad appreciates when I take a buddy.

Burroughs mountain trail brought me to the view in most of the photos above. I felt almost close enough to touch the top, yet we were only halfway there. The peak of this active volcanic mountain is 14,410 ft above sea level, and we were merely at the 7400 ft mark. We were like ants in a sea of evergreen trees.

Because you gotta drink a Rainier while next to Rainier.

Unless you don’t drink beer, then eat a Larabar.

The Burroughs trail brought us to this view, but I wanted more. The thing about Rainier National Park is there are trails..everywhere. Literally days of exploration.

A fire lookout sat atop an adjacent mountain, and I wanted to see the view from it.

That was a great decision on my part.

A perfect shot to celebrate independence day.

This adventure filled my soul with 5 hours and 8.2 miles of mountain goodness. I can’t wait to get back and explore even more. Next time I want to camp.

I started a pin collection, because I’m too lazy to work with patches. Now I need to get my fanny to more national parks and get my bag some legit bling. I also bought a mug because coffee tastes better in a good mug, and because I fell prey to the tourist traps.