Mt. Rainier (1) was supposed to be a short detour, but I wanted to get a good look of the mountain.

Mt. Rainier (1) was supposed to be a short detour, but I wanted to get a good look of the mountain. But as I was climbing higher and higher, it just kept going up. After an 45 minutes or so of struggling through the snow, I met these four guys (2) learning how to rappel off of cliffs on a much less than intimidating snow slope along my path. After talking to them for a few minutes, one said that I should at least head up to Panorama Point for a good look. So I trudged on and after a while longer, I ran into these two (3) 19-year-olds who stated they’ve been skiing/snowboarding since they were three. I was jealous. They had hiked up to Camp Muir at 10,000 ft elevation and a 5,000 foot rise from where I had started in order to slide down the entire bit in about 20 minutes. I want to do this next time. And so I trudged on. When I got to my vista point, I noticed these piles of rock (4). Anyone know if they mean anything? So after standing upon the highest point I reached, I made a little door of rock (5). One of many I have walked through. I loved hiking through this in the middle of summer and even though I was delayed coming into Seattle, it was absolutely worth it! -- source link

More pics about