An early summer's hike into the alpine terrain of Mt Rainier revealed a landscape slowly recovering from winter's fingers. Melting slow slowly give way to undulating grassy meadows, drained by tiny creeks harboring the first generations of insects. Down in the meadows, tiny glacier lilies pop up en masse, the first flower to blossom in the short spring. They add a burst of yellow and white to the landscape as the rest of the flowering plants send out tiny shoots skyward.

The pressures of a short summer have led to many interesting adaptations in the fragile alpine ecosystem, and thanks to the well-preserved landscape, the flora and fauna grow and thrive right up to the eaves of winter. There are many such beautiful niches in Rainier, and one just has to walk around to find them.

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA