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Entering
The Park
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From the Nisqually entrance, headed east off I-5/Highway
161.
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Our first stop. Lovely river tumbling down
past a campground.
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You'll find a museum here, an inn, and several other
tourist attractions, as well as a plethora of trails, etc. This picture
is of Rainier, seen from the front porch steps of the inn.
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Lunch At Cougar
Rock
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After we left Longmire, we decided to stop and eat
lunch at Cougar Rock, another campground and picnic place.
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Sam carrying supplies.
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Sitting at our picnic table (which was handicapped
accessible), I looked to my left and this is what I saw.
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Same mountain as in picture directly above.
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WILD BEARS ATTACKING OUR HONEY!!!!
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Sam advances on the Wild Bears!!!
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Christine
Falls
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These falls are incredible. They pour straight
down the cliffside past the highway into a deep hole, then the travel under
the road, to come out the other side--I am not sure whether they meet up
with another river or not but it was interesting to try and get pictures
of the falls going into the holes.
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Looking straight at the falls from the roadway (and
it's a narrow walkway to avoid getting on the main road, too)
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An attempt to get a shot of the water falling into
the hole.
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Another attempt.
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After turning the bend, we stopped and I took a long-distance
picture back at the Falls.
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Mount Rainier
In The Distance
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Various shots along the way of Mt. Rainier in the
distance.
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Looking at the side of the mountain from a turn-off
where people were watching climbers through binoculars. We couldn't
see them with the naked eye.
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A bald spot on the mountain. Since slash-burning
and clearcutting usually aren't allowed in national parks, my guess is
this is an alluvial deposit of rocks that was left by one of the glaciers
marching through. Or the mountain is gettin' up there and losing
her tree-hair. ~grins~
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Getting closer!
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Now this is on the Nisqually Glacier side--you can
see where the glacier came through and left a valley there--those are all
rocks, an alluvial deposit, and that is what will probably go first in
a lahar (major land/mudslide that happens on volcanoes and other mountains),
sweeping down the river towards the Nisqually Delta between Tacoma and
Olympia. That long thing in the center is a bridge/road that carries the
highway over that area.
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Narada Falls
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Perhaps one of the most breathtaking series of falls
in the park (and then again, maybe I'm wrong, but they are spectacular).
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Downstream of the bridge looking across.
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Downstream, looking upstream towards bridge (yeah,
it's tilted, had to to get a good shot).
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On the bridge, looking directly down.
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On the bridge, looking downstream.
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A better picture, on the bridge looking upstream.
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Paradise
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Paradise is at the foot of the remains of the Nisqually
Glacier, and looks straight up at the gorgeous snowfields that lead to
the peak. The snow here will melt away, but during July on a year
with a good snowpack, it sure isn't going to be gone yet! There's
an inn up above the Visitors Center a ways, and it boasts spectacular views
of the moonrise and sunrise over the mountain.
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Paradise Visitor's Center.
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In the Visitor's Center parking lot, looking at the
mountain.
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Looking a quarter-turn left from the mountain.
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The way to the snowfields up near the Inn. (and no,
I don't know any of the people in this picture and the next one).
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Ditto.
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