2014-08-19_CrystalPeak

IMG 0000xCrystalPeak960 IMG 9348xParking960  Trailhead parking on highway 410 IMG 9349xTrailHead960  Bridge over Crystal Creek IMG 9353xTrail960
IMG 9354xHikers960 IMG 9357xRainerPeek960  1st peek at Mt. Rainier IMG 9368xBeforeSign960 IMG 9370xTrailSign960  Take fork to the left to Crystal Lakes. Take fork to the right to Crystal peak
IMG 9372xPeakTrail960  Trail before the creek bridge IMG 9374xCrystalCreekBridge960  Bridge over Crystal Creek IMG 9379xAvalanchShoot960  Avalanche shoot at 1.6 miles is the first time out from under the trees. IMG 9392xTermiteArt960  Termite art
IMG 9391xMonkeyForest960  The forest trail isdeep and dark through the OZ-like Monkey Forest. IMG 9395xTrail960  First sun light IMG 9403xLastDarkTrail960 IMG 9413xLongRainier960  Exiting the forest
IMG 9418xHuckelberries960  Huckelberries IMG 9421xRainierSouth960  View of Mt Rainier and surrounding peaks IMG 9429xTrailSky960  Trail winding around the huckelberry covered meadows. IMG 9432xChipmunk960  Can you spot the chipmunk?
IMG 9433xTrail960  More mountain side trail. So many huckelberries I kept my eye out for bears. IMG 9435xSwitchback960  The end of the longest switchback. Meeting two of the eight people I encountered on the trail IMG 9446xMoss960  Live and dead moss. IMG 9448xGoal960  Sighting the goal. The top of Crystal Peak.
IMG 9461xHikers960  This couple left the parking lot only 5 minutes after me. They are already returning from the top which is about 300 feet above us. IMG 9469xBird960  Camp robber IMG 9472xTrees960 IMG 9474xHawk960  A hawk
IMG 9476xNearEnd960  Nearing the summit IMG 9479xNearSummit960  Last 90 feet to the top IMG 8679  This photo of Crystal peak was taken from the upper Crystal lake. IMG 9483xCloseRainier960
IMG 9484xLowerLake960  Lower Crystal Lake IMG 9493xLakeClose960  Upper Crystal lake IMG 9497xRainierValley IMG 9501xLake960  Upper Crystal Lake
IMG 9507xShurman960  Camp Shuman with 400mm IMG 9531xClouds960 IMG 9557xRainier960 IMG 9558xRidge960
IMG 9578xBigRainier960 IMG 9592xChipmunk960 IMG 9594xTrailDown960  Beginning decent IMG 9601xUpperSwitchback960
IMG 9605xHorTrail960 IMG 9610xMoss960  Moss on old silvered trees IMG 9613xMushroom960 IMG 9631xMoreTrail960
IMG 9646xTreeCone960 IMG 9649xAllRainier960 IMG 9654xBird960 IMG 9664xLeavingForest960  Nearing the forrest.
IMG 9673xRetruningToForest960  Entering tback into the forest. IMG 9677TrailBack960 IMG 9681xShoot960