Being jet lagged we had an early start the next day. Our plan was to drive around Mount Rainier anti clockwise from Puyallup to Ashford, near the Nisqually entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

We had seen the images of Mount Rainier against a backdrop of blue skies. This view, however, was not in the cards for us. When we got to our car it was raining and thick clouds covered up the mountain peak.

To make things worse we found out that Stevens Canyon was closed off due to construction work making it impossible to circle around the mountain. So we changed plans and headed for the west side of Mount Rainier National Park instead.

We entered the park through the Nisqually entrance and drove along Paradise road stopping at different view points along the way.

To get to Carter Falls we hiked from the parking lot up to the viewpoint.

The trail starts passing the rocks and you cross the Nisqually river via a wooden bridge. The hike is well worth the view of Carter falls.

At Paradise we visited the visitor center. It was freezing up there and we found ourselves close to snow fields- not what we are used to in June.