![]() ![]() Most of the flowers had come and gone, since the summers are very short at these altitudes. ![]() On the day I made the image below, I was there early enough to capture morning mist forming on the lakes and I even found a small stand of wildflowers hanging on to the last blooms of the season. From Paradise Inn, it’s very easy to get to the sunrise locations at Reflection Lakes in plenty of time to make informed choices about where and what to shoot. That saves time driving to and from the best photo attractions early in the morning or late at night. One of the reasons I like to stay at the lodges is they’re located inside the National Park boundaries. I’m sure the new lodge will be very nice, but this 100-year old gem is special, and I wanted to be able to remember the lodge as it was originally designed by Frederick Heath. Like the lodge, I’m old and sometimes prefer things the way they used to be. When it fully reopens, it will be a new place. Paradise is on that list and I spent the night on the last weekend she was open before the new construction began. The old National Park lodges are a sight to behold and they’re renovating (some say modernizing) most of them. Last August, I went to the park to spend the night in the Paradise Inn. In the summer, when the snow has melted off in the lower elevations, the sky is azure blue, the gray jays are singing, the woodpeckers are drilling holes for their nests, and the Indian Paintbrush and Lupine are blooming, I like to make my way to each of these natural wonders with the goal of helping to tell their stories to countless millions who will never be as lucky as I am to see them firsthand. These subalpine and alpine lakes feature meadows teaming with flora and fauna and it’s easy to spend the day hiking the area to uncover additional treasures. Because if they had, they wouldn’t think there’s anything remotely ordinary about it. Most have never stood on the banks of Reflection Lakes or its nearby cousin Tipsoo Lake and seen the incredible grace (and power) of the landscape in their own lens. Chances are they’ve never had the awe-inspiring experience of listening to the sounds of the water flow over the creeks as elk bugle in the distance. Most of the time the people who say photographing the Reflection Lakes area is “ordinary” are people who’ve never actually been to the mountain. Cliché is another way of saying something is ordinary. They are very popular and many might think of them as photographers’ clichés. But no matter what time of year, or what’s happening with the next potential belch of the mountain, there are two places I visit each and every time I go. There are birds and animals of different varieties year-round. Sometimes the mountain flowers come in early sometimes the spring waterfalls run especially heavy and late. When the “mountain is out,” as we locals like to say of a sunny day, I’ll sometimes head over to see what new majesty awaits my camera lens. While I’m primarily a bird photographer and most of my trips to the mountain are spent in search of hawks, jays, songbirds, and the occasional swan, I’m always happy to try to make a nice landscape photo while I’m there. It also occasionally carves out new landscapes worthy of exploration. That volcano is responsible for lots of cool things such as glaciers, rivers, creeks, waterfalls, and more. Rainier is the tallest mountain in the Lower 48 and also happens to be one of the most active volcanoes anywhere in the hemisphere. I can jump in the car and in less than three hours find myself at the gates of many deserving spots, but one of my favorites is Mt. Words and photographs copyright Scott BourneĪs a resident of the Seattle area, I’m fortunate enough to find myself surrounded by natural beauty. ![]()
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