Road trip to Mt. Rainier National Park — 2019-06-28

The last major field trip we made on our visit to the Northwest (Washington state) was to Mt. Rainier National Park. We had high hopes for fair weather so we could see the 14,410-foot (4,392-meter) Mt. Rainier in full view. We saw a number of colorful wildflowers along our way up to the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center at the base of the mountain.

The day broke with very good weather, but we would soon discover that good weather at lower elevation didn’t really mean anything. The mountains apparently make their own weather. As we were driving up the mountain to the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center, we could see a thick layer of clouds on the horizon. However, clouds don’t usually prevent us from seeing the brightly colored wildflowers along the roadside. The most spectacular wildflower we saw (in the thousands) was Castilleja miniata or Giant Red Indian Paintbrush. We had seen this wildflower species on our way up into the Olympic Mountain Range, but not to this extent. There were dense stands of Giant Red Indian Paintbrush stretching for hundreds of feet at a time. The colors were amazing! Bright orange-red to deep red were the main color forms. Here is a sample:

Giant Red Indian Paintbrush

Right across the road, we saw a few orchid species (listed in a previous post) as well as some Lupinus latifolius or Broadleaf Lupine:

We spent a good bit of time photographing and enjoying this fanciful play of colors along the roadside. Soon, we were back on the road heading up the mountain. While we were talking about what we had seen, the vehicle rounded a curve and brought into view a hillside covered with Xerophyllum tenax or Bear Grass, in full bloom! Of course, we had to stop to see these beauties more closely. While most plants were in full bloom, there were other plants in tight bud. What a display:

We spent about 30 minutes photographing the Bear Grass, then we continued our journey. As we rounded the next corner, we were able to see Mt. Rainier, but just the very top of it. Not knowing whether the clouds would open up further, we decided to take a few shots as a backup — a “bird-in-the-hand” approach. Turns out, this would be the best view of the mountain that we would have for the remainder of the day:

Near this pull off, I spotted the wide leaves of Veratrum californicum or Corn Lily. In late summer, it has a beautiful scape of whitish flowers, but we were a bit too early to see it in bloom:

Nearby, we saw a couple of other wildflowers, one of which I had never photographed — Mertensia paniculata or Tall Bluebells. I recognized the species right off, because I had reported on the eastern species, Mertensia virginica or Virginia Blue bells, in March of this year:

Within arm’s reach, I spotted the familiar, Aquilegia formosa or Western Columbine, looking very much like our eastern form, Aquilegia canadensis or Wild Columbine:

We finally reached the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center, and the parking lot was packed with cars — so many people taking the opportunity to visit a spectacular area of our country. There are many hiking trails leading from the Visitor Center, but we opted out of doing an extended hike. The inside of the Visitor Center is loaded with many interesting and informative displays, showing wildlife of the area as well as a nice place to purchase souvenirs of the visit. As we walking back to the car to leave, I shot this view of the Northern Cascade Mountains in the distance:

As we drove back down the mountain, I was on the lookout for a group of wildflowers I had spotted on the way up, but we were unable to stop to photograph them at the time. As we rounded the corner near the location, I spotted them in time for us to pull off the road. These were Lilium columbianum or Columbia Lily. Their bright yellow, bell-like flowers were quite the sight to see – the flowers being very much in size and shape as our eastern, Lilium superbum or Turk’s-Cap Lily. However, our Turk’s-cap Lily plant is up to 8 feet tall (2.4 meters) while the Columbia Lily plant is about 15 inches tall (38 cm):

Another successful field trip under our belt. We saw many colorful wildflowers as well as some spectacular grand landscapes. The weather did hold out for us by not raining as was predicted, but we did not have the bluebird sky we had hoped for to see Mt. Rainier at its best.

My final blog post of the trip will cover the Hoh Rainforest. No trip to the Northwest would be complete without a visit to this special place.

Until then…

–Jim