Viewing Mount Rainier from Bench Lake
3 AM….Not time to get up yet.
4 AM. Still not time to get up. I can’t sleep. I’m excited for the day ahead!
5 AM. Close enough. I’m getting up.
Scott and I were headed for Mount Rainier National Park, and I couldn’t wait! It was the first trip of the summer and it’d been far too long since we’ve visited.
Typically, this is peak wildflower time on Mount Rainier, and I expected there to be a ton of people up there. So we decided to avoid the Paradise area and look at lakes and waterfalls instead.
We arrived at the Nisqually gate at 6:30 AM and already there was a small line of cars waiting to get in. Even with two windows open checking people in. It was going to be a busy day up there.
We skipped Paradise and headed straight for Reflection Lake. Early morning and late evening are the times When the wind tends to be calmer, and therefor most likely to find a great reflection of the mountain on the lake. We didn’t want to miss it, so we headed there first.
As we arrived there was a layer of misty fog covering the lake. I wasn’t sure how long it would last, so I quickly got out and started taking pictures. I found lots of rosy spirea blooming along the water’s edge too. It was gorgeous.
After a while we headed off to our main event of the day. Hiking to Bench Lake.
The parking lot for the trail head was blocked off because of road construction, but we were able to find a parking spot nearby down the road just a bit – the advantages of getting there early. The hike is just 1.5 miles round trip, but it has lots of ups and downs, and is a little harder than the distance would lead you to believe.
We’d been on this trail a couple of times before – on our way to Snow Lake. For some reason we’d never taken the detour to Bench Lake, but I’d heard that the view was fantastic, so I couldn’t wait to check it out.
There aren’t really any good views of the mountain along the way, but it’s nice hiking in the woods. And we found lots of wild huckleberries to eat along the way.
When we arrived at the lake we were stunned by the view. The full mountain was reflecting perfectly in the lake. The water was so glassy that you could’ve turned the picture upside down and not known the difference. Green trees, blue skies, and white mountain. Wow! I think view is even better than Reflection Lake. And it didn’t have crowds of people. Or cars passing on the road by the shore.
We took our time; not in any hurry to leave. Paradise was a zoo, but this was wonderful.
We stopped at a few waterfalls on our way back out of the park. It was crazy crowded with people and we were glad we’d arrived early and chosen a less popular attraction.
On to the next adventure!