Mount Rainier

September 2013

Mt. Rainier is a 14,411-foot volcano

that stands 13,211 feet above the surrounding landscape.  You can see it from hundreds of miles away, on a clear day.

We went to the National Park from two different entrances, went on a few hikes and saw lots of streams

and waterfalls

big trees,

small animals

and birds

At Paradise, there's a lodge

that gets snowed in up to the roof in winter.

People used to go to Longmire

for the hot springs.

We saw some butterflies

and pollywogs

and fungi

More pictures here.  Videos of waterfalls here, here, here, here, here, here, here.  Streams here, here, here.  Butterflies, pollywogs, hot spring and hot tub in action.

Rocky Mountain National Park, revisited

June 2013

We went again on a driving trip through RMNP.  Saw some more wildlife, elk

and a moose

and had dinner in Estes Park.

More pictures.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

June 2013

It used to be called the Grand Canyon of the Gunnison, but they changed the name.  Could have been a lawsuit involved, I don't know.  It's in Eastern Colorado, and the Gunnison does feed into the Colorado River, but well upstream from that other canyon.  It's not as deep, but it drops much more steeply, and so has carved a much more narrow canyon.

 We went for several short hikes along the rim

Saw a classic car at one of the stops

On the way there, in Montrose, we crossed some interestingly named streets.  Maybe City Planning wasn't as advanced in the Old West.

And I already told you about  Garlic Mike's.  More pictures.

Arches National Park

June 2013

Our 4th park in Utah was Arches.  Not as awesome as Bryce, but very cool.  Besides the arches, there are other weird and interesting formations

We hiked into some little slot canyons

and saw some guys climbing

There was a triple arch

and lots more.

Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky

June 2013

The second part of Canyonlands.

This is a view of the ridge behind our RV park in Moab:

and the valley and mountain range in front:

We hiked here, too, to get to the view of the Island:

and other interesting things

More pictures.