Palisades Lakes

On Saturday, I hiked the Palisades Lakes Trail in Mount Rainier National Park - as always, chasing those late-season wildflowers! For a trail in the national park on a weekend day, surprisingly few fellow hiking parties were on the trail. This may have to do with the fact that the trail offers no views of Rainier itself, or with the fact that there is quite a bit of uphill hiking on the way back to the trailhead. I thoroughly enjoyed the hike, though - the setting alternates between pleasant open forest, wildflower meadows, and lakes, with plenty of flowers still blooming.

First, a wildflower meadow near the end of the trail, with lupine (purple) and bistort (white) the most prominent flowers. The image quality here is only fair, but the composition is compelling enough to make this a usable image. F/16.

Next, a image with a similar concept and the same array of flowers, this time with Upper Palisades Lake in the distance. F/16.

Below is Sunrise Lake, nearer the trailhead. I tried a number of compositions of the lake; the lighting isn't fantastic in this one, but this was the lake's calmest moment, resulting in the most clearly discernible reflections. F/14.

The trailhead itself, at Sunrise Point, offers nice views of its own. Here is one such view, looking roughly southeast over the White River drainage. F/14.

I also managed a couple wildflower closeups. Below is what I believe to be sickletop lousewort or leafy lousewort (Pedicularis racemosa). F/6.3.

Finally, here's a paintbrush with lupine in the background. Due to the color, I believe the paintbrush is magenta paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora, or Castilleja parviflora var. oreopola). F/5.