Mt. Rainier Wildlife and Wildflowers

In early August I was greeted by this intense buck head at the start of the Skyline trail at Paradise on Mt. Rainier.  Why was he watching so intently?

A vigilant parent

Ever watchful in the meadows along the trail, while the fawns play

Prancing in the meadow

A reminder to always take time to stop and smell the flowers

Striking white camouflage spots are shown off as the fawn learns about being alert to movement nearby

Pausing the game while on alert

And now the buck is also wary

Full view of the noble beast before they all run off

Even on a beautiful, sunny day Mt. Rainier is often hidden in clouds. But don't let that discourage you because the Mountain has a reputation for quick changes. It rises from sea level to 14,410 feet high.  The 5th tallest mountain in the U.S., Mt. Whitney in CA and 3 others in Colorado are higher.

And so you see that as I hiked up the trail, the clouds and mists parted. Mt Rainier was the 5th National Park, declared in 1899, 10 years after Washington became a state. It's unique because it has 4 life zones from bottom to top: Lower Forest (old growth), Pacific Silver Fir zone, Subalpine zone (shown here), and Alpine zone which starts at over 6,000 feet. It has the most glaciers of any single peak anywhere in the U.S. Mt Rainier is a volcano, with the most recent eruption cycle ending about 1,000 years ago. In the foreground you can see some erratic rocks, scattered at some time by eruption.

The Mountain in all it's sunny glory. 

August is a prime time for meadow wildflowers. Here you see lupins. It takes very rugged plants to live and bloom on Mt Rainier. It takes 7 years for some of the mountain plants to build enough energy to bloom one time. One of many reasons why it's so very important that visitors stay on the trails and not tromp all over these delicate, precious plants. We love these flowers not just for their beauty, but for their contribution to the overall ecology, including that the animals depend on plants to survive. There are 63 species of mammals at Mt. Rainier, 16 species of amphibians, and 5 species of reptiles

Splashes of color wherever you look in August. The first flowers that burst through the snow in early summer are Mountain Hemlock, Avalance Lily, Glacier Lily. The Avalanche Lily is one of those that takes 7 years to bloom once in their lifetime. One of the plants that is well adapted to this volcanic soil is the Fireweed, which also colonizes well after a fire. There are also Western Anemone and Shooting Star Flowers. That reminds me too of the wonderful programs at Paradise. I learned so much from the Ranger talk in the evening at the Lodge. And afterwards there was an exciting astronomy program, which is nightly. I got to see for myself Saturn with its rings and some moons, Mars, Stars in the Big Dipper, and the International Space Station as it went by!

A pretty variety of wildflowers. Flowers on Mt. Rainier have a brief, beautiful 6 week blooming season.

This is Red Paintbrush

Unique to Mt. Rainier, this is Magenta Paintbrush

In the foreground of Mt Rainier, meadow of White Bear Grass, which takes 7 - 10 years to bloom one time in its lifetime. The flower appears hairy looking

The dichotomy of flowers springing up by the snow

Beautiful Mt. Rainier. In the foreground is a good example of how little plants and flowers lodge themselves in rocks to protect themselves agains the wind and also to use the rocks for reflecting warmth.

Still plenty of snow in August

A close up look at some of the snow ridges

Looking across a snow cloud on Mt. Rainier toward Mt Adams in the distance.

Sunbathing marmot.

Sunbathing marmot close up

Marmot watching the hikers on the trail

Marmot on alert

Meadow marmot

Looking over the grasses at marmot level

Double waterfall cascading from the melting snow

One of the Ptarmigan birds I was lucky to see. The feathers on these birds all turn completely white for the winter snow season. Then they'll burrow underground in the snow perfectly camouflaged.

Overlooking a red rock range, highlighted by the setting sun

Nearing sunset

One of many scurrying squirrels on Mt. Rainier

Mt. Squirrel looking for the next adventure

This Subalpine zone is less hospitable to trees, with a shorter growing seeason. Instead of widespread forests at this height, instead you see islands of trees. Mostly there are Subalpine Fir like in this picture, and Alaskan Yellow Cedar. At this height it's an advantage to be short, sturdy, with a steep spire to handle a tremendous amunt of snowfall.

In the background is nearby Mt. Adams, at an elevation of 12,280. It hasn't erupted in over 1,000 years but like Mt. Rainier it's not considered extinct.

Huckleberries, not quite ripe in early August. I'll have to hike back for this treat.