Today was a 13 hr. day.  I decided to drive the full loop (rather than just drive to Paradise…by way of the Nisqually entrance) around Mt. Rainier.  Some of the drive was on windy roads with steep drop-offs.  Our first stop was Sunrise, on the Northern side of the mountain.  It was in your face rugged beauty.

Next we drove to Silver Falls, a short hike to a beautiful water fall.

We ate our packed lunch and stopped at Reflection Lake next.

From there it was a short drive to Paradise, where we wanted to hike.  The trails were shut down due to late snowfall, so we drove to Longmire and hiked the 5 mile Rampart Ridge trail, which took about 2 1/2 hrs.

Notice the bee on the flower…

We didn’t see any bears…but some cute deer!

Just outside of the National Park we found the Copper Creek Inn for dinner.  The food was good and the yuppy rustic ambiance was cool!