Monday 090314 Crystal Mountain and Mt. Rainier Park

We moved our mountain adventure to Monday because the weather was supposed to be great and it was!  We got up early and hit the road to Crystal Mountain.  Paul thought this would be a good option because there was a gondola to the top and Maeve wouldn't have to hike with a broken arm.  The gondola was awesome and the view was pretty good.  Though it was a gorgeous day Mt. Rainier is only fully visible on a completely clear day.  At 14,400 feet it is well above most cloud levels!  It was beautiful however and we enjoyed some mountaintop treks before we enjoyed a picnic lunch.   We took the gondola back down and decided to get closer!

We drove to the Mt. Rainier National Park and it was so beautiful.  The trees were so tall the cars looked like matchbox cars!  We drove through much of the park and then hiked through the wild flower fields.  

We saw black tailed deer, some small gopher like animals and a momma bear with two cubs.  We could see the glacier fields clearly but we had already had a long day and decided to head back.

It is wonderful to know that so much of this is right in our new back yard!