Junior Ranger and BEST DAY EVER

We had lunch back at the visitor center and then wrapped up our visit to Rainier in usual fashion.

And then we grabbed ice cream before we left.  It was only about the fourteenth time today that Ryan enthusiastically proclaimed that today was the BEST DAY EVER!!!

Paradise Inn

On the way back to the visitor center, we checked out the Paradise Inn.  Its another one of the historic national park lodges.  We had wanted to stay here as we did Quinault Lodge, but this was also fully booked.  A large part of the Inn is being renovated, but the original portion was open.

Skyline Trail

After we reached the Myrtle Falls, we continued on for a bit on the Skyline Trail.  There was more incredibly gorgeous scenery everywhere we looked.

Myrtle Falls Trail

We hiked an easy trail from Paradise to the Myrtle Falls.  It was a stunningly beautiful walk!!!

Here are some pics of the actual Falls once we got there.

Snowball Fight

We were lucky enough to arrive at Mount Rainier at a great time.  The weather was perfect and there was still a lot of snow on the lower slopes near the visitor center that hadn't yet melted.  We encountered a patch super close and had a little snowball fight.

Paradise at Mount Rainier

The Henry M. Jackson visitor center is strategically located in Paradise.  It's the main visitor center for the Park and is located at an elevation of around 5,000 feet.  It was a gorgeous day with a temp in the mid 60s.  Here's a couple of pics of us outside the center.

And, in case you can't see the Mountain behind us in those pics, here is a shot of just Rainier.  The summit reaches over 14,000 feet and is often shrouded in the clouds as its so large that it creates its own weather patterns.

Mount Rainier National Park

Here is the southern entrance to Rainier (from Seattle).

And here is a video of a waterfall from Rainier's snow melt that we encountered on the drive in to Paradise.