Paul and I decided to go backpacking at Mt. Ranier on Thursday. It was very warm when we hiked in to Upper Palasades Lake, 3.5 miles of up and down, up and down. I am a person who tends not to complain until they are uncomfortable and mosquitos and other flying pests drive me nuts. There were alot of mosquitos. At one point I looked at my elbow and there were four mosquitos biting me! (I remember actually hiking in the Olympics one time when the flies were especially terrible. They would fly around your head until you felt like swearing. After half an hour I was so frustrated that I was crying.)
The lake was beautiful. I went for a swim after we set up camp. The sunset was beautiful. The next morning we woke up to thunder and lightning. It rained most of the morning. We decided to pack out and try to find a sunnier place to camp. On the way out we saw pica, elk and marmots. Once we got back to the car we decided to go explore the Wenatchee National Forest that borders Mt. Ranier. We had only eleven dollars in cash - so our plan was to find a campground that cost less than eleven dollars. We drove all the way to Yakima and couldn't find one for even under fifteen. So we decided to spend the eleven dollars at McDonalds in Yakima (it is 9 pm by now and we haven't eaten) and then drive back home and sleep in our own beds. We had a great time listening to Lars Larsen on the way home. We arrived home at midnight last night. It was a great adventure. We saw some places we had never been before. Moral of the story: plan for rain and bring more cash! Enjoy the pictures!