This has been something of an odd week; I'm late with the quiz and there hasn't been much photography going on. The quiz should be kind of easy but, then again, maybe not. This is from Mt. Rainier National Park but they are found in many of the western mountains. They must be getting fed regularly because this one had very little fear - when I walked back to the truck after making this image it flew up and landed on the mirror, staring at me the whole time like he was esxpecting a handout. I caught a fleeting glimpse of another bird that would have been great for the quiz this week but, alas, there was no place for me to pull over.

Just to get caught up on things, we left the Glacier National Park area on Tuesday morning, stopping in Spokane, Washington. That afternoon I went to check out Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge southwest of the city but the hoped for lakes full of ducks turned out to be little more that ponds surrounded by cattails and sedges that would have made photography impossible. Wednesday morning we went a little farther west to a town east of the Cacades and a visit to Mount Rainier National Park. That didn't go as planned since it came to pass that the road I had planned to take into the park didn't - even though both my GPS and Streets and Trips told me it would. Adding to my frustration, the advertised "WiFi" at the KOA in Ellensburg, WA was, in fact, "LoFi" sooooo, I bailed out of there Thursday morning and went farther to the west from which I could take a known paved road to the park.

This cascade and fall is located a short distance from the Paradise Inn at Rainier. It is a creek that feeds Paradise River but, as near as I can tell from the topograhic map I have of the park both an unnamed creek and fall. It is just one of many on the park and I suspect a person could spend weeks - or possibly months - trying to shoot them all.

South and slightly east of Rainier is Pinnacle Peak. Though I had only this afternoon to explore, this is an awesome park. Unfortunately there are few places to stay that are close; as it was I had to drive 70 miles just to get to the entrance at the southwest corner. It would have been about the same distance to the east entrance had the road I had chosen for me gone through.

This morning, before driving up to the park, the truck was service and tomorrow the day will be spent preparing to set off for the Great White North. I will be collecting my dear old mum at the airport tomorrow night and, by Sunday evening we will be in "Beautiful British Columbia" as we begin 6+ week trek on the Alaska-Canada Highway(s). Many of my planned stops will have WiFi available and I plan to post entries on a regular basis from there. Don't call because at 79 cents/minute to "roam" in Canada my phone will be turned off until I get to Alaska . . .