Mt. Rainier in August

One Sunday Jason and I took a drive to Mount Rainier National Park.
The official measurement is 14,410 ft. above sea level.

Clearly I did not take this picture. It's from the internet, but you can see how big it really is and how beautiful the surrounding area is. The area of Puyallup is pictured. Pronounced P-U-al-up.

At the top, the visitor center and log cabin that is being refurbished.
Generally, 1.5 - 2 million people visit Mount Rainier each year.

Don't ya love the little pointy edge on the left?
In 2009, 10,616 people attempted to climb Mount Rainier; 6,438 of them actually reached the summit.

This is it! The biggest mountain in Washington! It can be seen from all sorts of directions.
It just stands out so tall!
Mount Rainier National Park encompasses 235,625 acres or 368 square miles. Of that amount, 228,480 acres (97% of the park) has been designated by Congress as Wilderness. The park's National Historic Landmark District includes 2.7% of the park. The park has over 260 miles of maintained trails and 147 miles of roads.

I didn't know there were lake up there, but I shouldn't be surprised as there are many lakes around the towns that unless you live close, you just wouldn't know about then.

Dead limbs among the lives one. So many cool twists and turns. I love trees!

I love taking pictures of the new little trees growing and comparing them to the big one. It was near here that we saw deer. On our drive down the mountain we saw twin baby dears cross the road. They were so darling.

There were many colors and kinds of wild flowers, but I just couldn't take pictures of them all. pink, yellow, blue, purple, white.
Geologists consider this mountain to be an 'episodically active' volcano, meaning one that will erupt again some time in the future even though it may be quiet now. Mount Rainier is the tallest volcano and fifth highest peak in the contiguous United States.
The place is covered in trees!

There were so many hill sides like this of just green grass that it reminded me of "the Sound of Music" when Julia is singing in the mountains!

Congress established Mount Rainier National Park on March 2, 1899, reaffirming the nation's intent to set aside certain areas of outstanding scenic and scientific value for the enjoyment of present and future generations. It is America's fifth oldest national park, after Yellowstone (established in 1872), and Yosemite, General Grant (now part of Kings Canyon), and Sequoia (all established in 1890).