Ah, the mountain- eers, ready to take on the mountain! Lunches packed, water bottles at the ready, walking sticks honed, and spirits fueled with anticipation! Regardless of intermittent rain and strong weather advisories against walking along water drainages and mountain gullies, 
we headed up the Snow Lake Trail, one of the more strenuous climbs for ole' George and myself. The younger crowd, Taraz and Megan and their friend Mahta, seemed to just flit and flutter upwards without so much as a huff or puff, or a care in the world! 
We meandered through the most sublime meadows, upwards through the forest understory until we reached Snow Lake.
This hike takes some careful maneuvering, especially if the logjams across creeks are slippery from the rain - and rain was an intermittent companion on this hike. 
We reached our final destination after several hours of rigorous hiking. This time of year, thousands visit the Mt. Rainier National Park. Many have come to see the flood damage from the Great Flood of November 2006, when 18 inches of rain fell in 36 hours. The Nisqually road washed out for 200 yards, requiring extensive repairs. Log jams are everywhere, also washouts, rerouted creeks, and landslides. What was once Sunshine Campground - my favorite - is now a riverbed, with huge boulders and rocks where picnic tables once were. Embankments dropped away at milepost 9, leaving a sheer drop off at the road's edge. Such were the sights last November, and the Park was closed to traffic.
Since then, work crews have rerouted water, rebuilt roads, repaired power-lines and sewers. When we drove through, it seemed as mild and gorgeous as ever, with wildflowers along the sides of the road and in the alpine valleys. Such contrasts of weather, such sudden changes. Then the sunshine comes out, as if nothing had happened.
The National Park Service writes: "Mt. Rainier is a restless mountain. The roads bridges, trails and campgrounds that we build are secondary to the elemental forces that created - and continue to transform - this landscape that we love. Our great works of human enterprise will fade away with time. The mountain will endure."
