A Monday afternoon drive: Mt Rainier

Being so close to greatness makes act me like a kid in a candy store with my camera and tripod. I drug Shawna along (gimme a break, she wanted to see it too), and we tooled around for the day. We took the back way to the Southwest entrance to Rainier National Park. Being that it was the second week of November, all the roads were closed but one. It worked out though because that's the one I wanted. Score! That never happens. Here's a few pictures too many of the day.

 Slowly climbing in elevation. First glimpse of the valley.

 And another.

 Alder Dam. Gotta look close.

 An old train turned into a bar and restaurant. Whaaaaaat???? How, freakin, cool. We will go back,

I'm sure of it.

Proving we were there.

 Never did see a sign telling me what creek this was. I just like the sun spots in photographs recently.

I just love the fall colors. I am so lucky to be in Washington this time of year. It is positively superb.

 Remind anyone else of Twilight? I know, it's sick. It just really  does look like it does in the movie.

 Can you tell every single one of my photos are untouched? I certainly can. What a wash-out. Oh well, you get the point.

 A dazzling waterfall that crossed our path on the drive. The arched rock is the bridge that we drove over.

 We have hit snow! "Mt Rainier is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 feet." Yup, had to Wikipedia that too. Don't wanna leave anyone hanging. Can you see it through the trees? I would have taken many more, but the clouds were blocking it the whole time we were around. I have to find a better spot and go back.

 A little fox that really wanted a free meal. He was tugging at Shawna's heart-strings with his big brown eyes. Again, Shawna says, "Seriously, we can't feed him? But he's so hungry! Can I give him a cracker?" Molly was acting all bad in my cushy back seat. If I would have let her go, she would have run from this little 12-pounder so fast...!

 Starting to see some pretty stuff. Can you see how many layers of hills?!

 I'm assuming the same creek as what was down below. Right beneath this there was a giant waterfall. We probably could have hiked down there to snap a picture, but we would have needed ice picks and rope. Even then we would have still broken a hip. It was pretty gnarly.

 Trying to figure out where to set up for the sunset pictures I was itching for.

 Found my spot. Surprisingly, there wasn't a great selection unless you had a 30 foot ladder or a
helicoptor handy.

 I think this is my favorite. Love the sun-circle. I love pictures that are just a little off from what everyone else is shooting for. I love simple quirks, slight mistakes, something with a little personality. (Or maybe I'm just saying that because none of my pictures would ever sell!) 

 A few minutes later. My finger tips were pretty much frozen at this point. My toes had been numb for 15 minutes. Thank you Shawna, for sticking it out for me to get these. Once in a lifetime.

 My second favorite. It's always the first or the last shot of the day, eh?

 Another fox!! Wow, these guys are really lazy and don't want to work for their supper.

 It was a full moon, I had my tripod, I couldn't resist.

It was SO cold! Maybe it was just that I had spent the last 3 months in Southern Oregon which was super hot in the summer. And yeah, I have to try my hair curly here... it just isn't worth it to try and straighten. So be prepared for freaky ass pictures for the next 10 weeks!