On the hottest weekend of the Summer up until now, we decided to beat the heat by heading up to the 6000-foot level, at Mt Rainier, and check out the Paradise pavilion. 

Down along the Puget Sound, the temperatures were hovering above 95!

The Drive to Rainier is one of those drives that you don't easily forget...

The views are unparalleled!

Even before you get to the National Park, you're surrounded in incredible scenery... its one of the nicest drives that I know of.

The roadway is an incredible feat of engineering.

The skies were VERY clear, providing a wonderful view of the largest volcano in the Lower 48.

Mt Rainier's snow cap reflects on the waters of this alpine lake... very nice!

Here, the temperature was already cooler...

By the time we got to the Paradise Pavilion, it was 76 degrees... NICE!

Its interesting to see the Pavilion without any snow... its sure a different view than the one I had in April!

This was the view in April... LOTS of snow!

The mountain's glaciers had a blue hue to them.. it was an incredibly clear day!

The meadows were dotted with flowers... the smells were amazing!

 

After Ice Cream, watching the movies in the pavilion, walking for a bit, and relaxing in the cool breeze for a while... we reluctantly headed back down the slopes of the Mountain, and back to the Sound.

High Mountain Streams provided excellent reasons to take out time...

You could feel the cool breeze generated by the rushing water, fed by Melt-water, so you KNOW it was COLD.

The views of the high-mountain meadows was pretty incredible!

The meadows were only recently uncovered from their blanket of snow... and they already had flowers...

In all, it was a GREAT trip.

It was getting dark by the time we got home, and the heat of the day was over.

It ended up being a very nice day.

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