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 Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th

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Opalsboy
Daboo
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Daboo
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PostSubject: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeFri Aug 26, 2011 3:43 pm

Again, late notice. But on the off-chance someone else can make it, I'll post it here.

I'm planning to leave early in the morning tomorrow to ride over to Sunrise Park at Mt. Rainier.

Sunrise is where I took this picture last year...
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th Img_0013

I'm planning to leave enough time to make a short hike on the Naches Peak Loop trail. It'll make the day longer, but will be well worth the extra effort. After all, why ride all the way there and turn around immediately. Here's a picture I found online. Hopefully, I'll have more...
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th Naches%20Peak%20Loop%20C%20Kelbert

Please let me know if you wish to join up with me. Again, sorry for the short notice. It would be fun to ride with someone to a place this gorgeous.

Chris


Last edited by Daboo on Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:08 am; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Fixed duplicate wording.)
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Opalsboy
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeFri Aug 26, 2011 6:30 pm

I do envy you Chris... WOW... what a great place to visit. It is a little far for me to meet you, but I look forward to some more great pictures. Enjoy the weekend.
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Daboo
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeFri Aug 26, 2011 6:46 pm

Yeah, but just check the weather before you make the trip.

One of the members on BurgmanUSA, asolof, rode last spring from New Jersey over here hoping to see some of the sights.

Here is what he and Dave_J saw at Windy Ridge, Mt. St. Helens.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th IMG_0943

Here's what it looked like when I went over:
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th File

It's all in the timing... Smile

Chris
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bob wells
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeFri Aug 26, 2011 6:57 pm

Wish I had time to get there from Boise and join you! I have done that ride on my Ducati and was in heaven. Thanks for posting.

Bob
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Daboo
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeSun Aug 28, 2011 11:35 pm

I put out a late notice for this ride, and I'm not surprised to find no one could make it. But for all of you who didn't...especially bob wells, it was great. Smile And this will give the rest of you an idea of what to see if you're here...in late summer...not when Arnie Solof (from BurgmanUSA) came from New Jersey and found only rain and fog. Speaking of which, I think we have finally had enough hours of over 80F to qualify for at least one day of summer. BTW, I apologize for the length of this in advance. But I did want to share a wonderful trip.

I had thought about going to Tipsoo Lake and the hike around Naches Peak, but also of including Sunrise. However, I got a later start than planned. It was worth more to me to go to the Men's Group at church in the morning at 8am and leave hopefully soon after 9am, than to hit the road at 8am. As it turned out, I didn't actually get off till 10...and as it turned out, that was perfect.

The problem with going to places like this south of Seattle is you have to spend an hour on the freeway to get to where Dave_J lives in Auburn. There's nothing fun about the freeway. The 07+ 400 does fine on the freeway, but that's boring compared to what you know you'll see. So after an hour, I was in Auburn and on Hwy 18.

There are two interesting things about Mt. Rainier to me. One, it dominates the skyline. I can see it clearly (well, when the sky is clear!) when I get off the freeway near Boeing Field on the final stretch to work each morning. I'm probably 65 miles from it as the crow flies, yet it stands out dominating everything around it. By the way, if you ever hear of Mt. Rainier erupting as Mt. St. Helens did a few years back...you can say good bye in your thoughts to any of us in Seattle, Tacoma, or Olympia and anywhere in between. What Mt. St. Helens did, would be small change in comparison. All our major peaks are still active volcanoes.

The other thing about Mt. Rainier is that it seems the closer you get to it, the harder it is to see. To a point anyway. From Auburn, I pulled off the road and took this picture. (It also gave me a chance to quit following this large truck with a partial load of dumpsters.) It's typical of living anywhere in this area. The view of Mt. Rainier...not the truck with dumpsters!
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020732+_Large_

While places like Colorado also have 14,000 foot mountains, those cities start out at 5000 feet above sea level. You can drive to the top of a 14,000 foot mountain. (I did that in my 66 VW Beetle as it turned over 100,000 miles!) The rest of the Cascades are relatively as high compared to the cities where the population lives at around 7000 feet...and then there are the major peaks like Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood that stick up 5000 to 7000 feet above even those. You can not drive to the top of any of those mountains. So to me, the mountains here are very special.

After about an hour more of riding in forests, I got this chance to see Mt. Rainier up close. I have no idea what the thing in front of it is. My daughter thought it looked like a caldera. It's not, but it is unusual.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020735+_Large_

Being a scooter ride, I had to get in a couple photos of Deborah, my 2008 Burgman 400, in all its glory. There's a couple motorcycle riders heading off in the distance towards a turn marked with one of those signs that says you need to slow down to 20 mph...because you're going to turn all the way around. The second picture is taken from across the road. I'm not sure which is more beautiful...Mt. Rainier in the distance hidden by the foothills...or my Burgman 400. Smile
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020736+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020739+_Large_

I finally got to Tipsoo Lake and parked near the trail head. The lake is right next to the road, and beautiful to look at, even when driving by.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020741+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020744+_Large_

The Naches Peak Loop trail heads around the lake on the left, crosses the road, then goes around the hill in the back of that picture above. Total distance is about 3.5 miles.

I picked absolutely the right time to go. Mountain meadows have very short growing seasons, and our snows lingered much longer than usual. But what this meant is the wild flowers that would've normally been in bloom a month or more earlier...were now in bloom. You'll see some pictures with the wild flowers below. It is hard to describe how beautiful they are, but hopefully you'll get an idea. In a week or two, the flowers will all be gone.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020746+_Large_

Wild flowers in the foreground of Naches Peak and Tipsoo Lake
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020749+_Large_

Another view of Tipsoo Lake from above.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020750+_Large_

A closeup of some of the wildflowers. My wife wanted this for a Windows Desktop background.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020751+_Large_

On this next picture, I've walked along the back side of Naches Peak. You can see the road cutting across the hillside well over a mile away. I couldn't hear any cars...but I could hear the Harleys and other cruisers with loud pipes. It didn't sound like music to my ears. Sad
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020752+_Large_

On the back side (east side) of Naches Peak, there was quite a bit of snow still left. In places, if you slipped, you'd go sliding quite a ways before coming to an abrupt stop.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020755+_Large_

Avalanche liliy.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020756+_Large_

Much of the trail looked like this.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020765+_Large_

I stopped to eat lunch here...till the mosquitoes drove me away. It seems like they also wanted lunch. I was sitting in the middle of a small stream that was cutting beneath the snow pack below.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020766+_Large_

So I picked up my rucksack and headed over the ridge below.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020767+_Large_

I was looking only for something like a large rock to sit on to eat lunch. The meadows are so fragile that if you walk on them, you will likely kill the plant you stepped on and make a permanent trail. So you can imagine my surprise when I stepped over a small hill on the trail and came upon this small pond.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020775+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020776+_Large_

Some older ladies were coming down from the rocks I'd spied, and gave me some insect repellent. Between that and the nice breeze coming up from the valley, I had an enjoyable lunch where I could look out and just soak it all in. These next three pictures are looking from the left of where I sat around to the right.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020772+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020773+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020774+_Large_

There is beauty in some of the most unlikely places. Here on this large 20-30 foot rock I ate lunch on, are some wildflowers that have found enough dirt to grown in.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020771+_Large_

Here are some red flowers. I think they are Indian Paintbrush. None of the red flowers in any of the pictures I took, were in focus. It is like the camera just wouldn't recognize them like it did everything else.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020780+_Large_

Some shots of the trail...
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020779+_Large_

The Pacific Crest Trail connects through this portion of the trail.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020782+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020783+_Large_

Dewey Lake
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020784+_Large_

The trail guides all recommend making the loop trail in a clockwise direction so you finish looking at Mt. Rainier, instead of having it to your back. This is one of those scenes like you see on postcards.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020789+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020790+_Large_

Some more wild flowers. A line from The Sound of Music went through my head. "The hills are a blaze..."
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020791+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020795+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020796+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020797+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020803+_Large_

Almost back and about to descend...
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020798+_Large_

Mt. Adams in the background.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020800+_Large_

I stopped here for a while to just soak it all in and give thanks for being able to do this. The beauty in creation is just awe inspiring. It was incredibly quite. I heard a hawk or an eagle cry out, and saw a butterfly below. And all I could hear was just the sound of the wind passing through the trees. No traffic. No nothing. Just stillness. Just Peace.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020801+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020802+_Large_

Everything does come to an end though, and I still had a three hour ride back home. So I took a couple more photos at a place where I could pull over before putting The Mountain behind me and home before me.
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020804+_Large_
Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th P1020806+_Large_

BTW, in those pictures, there's a really nice looking stout wall there at the edge before it drops off. Well, in most of the places, there was no wall...just the dropoff. Smile

All in all, it was one of those days that makes you feel glad to be alive. There's something wonderful about riding a motorcycle that makes you feel a part of every nuance in the road and the area you're passing through. For some, the ride is the destination. I like to do things like this where the ride is the destination...but at the end of the ride is a special destination as well.

It was rather long, but I hope you enjoyed it. And if you're ever out here...in the summer...late summer, actually...perhaps I can ride along with you to some of these places.

Chris
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model28a
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeSun Aug 28, 2011 11:44 pm

Wow!!! applause
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Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th 510-80


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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeMon Aug 29, 2011 1:57 am

Thank you Chris. The pictures were fantastic. I don't know how your wife could pick only one as a screensaver. Maybe all as a slide show. Again, thank you for the report . motorcycle
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jobo2mi
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeMon Aug 29, 2011 6:40 am

Wow Wow Oh Wow!!! Those pics are sunning!! Mountains are on my bucket list!! Such beautiful scenes!! Thank you for sharing. Do you mind if we snag a couple?
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bob wells
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeMon Aug 29, 2011 10:46 am

Beautiful! Even prettier than I remember. Out of Auburn did you go 410 to Enumclaw and out that way?

Bob
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Daboo
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeMon Aug 29, 2011 11:25 am

Bob, yes, I went from I-405 to Hwy 18. Then to 410 and over to Tipsoo Lake.

jobo2mi - send me a pm with your email address, and I'll share the link to the photos in Picassa.

Chris
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Daboo
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PostSubject: Re: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th   Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Park - August 27th I_icon_minitimeMon Aug 29, 2011 1:09 pm

FWIW, I figured out my gas mileage on the trip. For the first fill up, the 400 got 75.31 mpg...on year old gas from a 5 gallon container stored in the back yard. It would've been higher, but I wasn't watching and the pump overflowed the tank. Overall, the gas mileage was 69 mpg.

Chris
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