RING OF FIRE

Mt. Rainier is the highest volcano in the Cascades, part of a ring of fire that circles the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the Aleutians, West coast of North and South America, Antarctica, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. Its last eruption was the early 1800's.
Mt. Rainier was the 5th National Park by edict from Congress in 1899. It is unique in that the park planners chose to make the roads flow with the views and beauty of the park, rather than take the shortest, least expensive route to get from point A to point B.
What joy this scenic drive up the mountain, passing a bright orange Kautz Creek, deep canyon falls and the remaining wreckage from torrential rains in 2006 that left the river bed full of glacial flour, huge trees tumbled like matchsticks with boulders tangled in a deepened river bed. Rain in 36 hours flooded roads, created rock and mud slides and challenged the rangers to repair the damage in one year so that 2 and 1/2 million people each year can enjoy the unique beauty of this park.
With a dubious signal, I felt lucky to upload the above photos of a glacier and one view of Mt. Rainier. The link below has more photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/MtRainierEdits#

P.S. Diane corrected my picture in Watermelon Snow-Not a moose, its an elk or a deer. Thanks Diane