Sunrise Mt. Rainier Today

American Pipit Anthus rubescens

I hiked on the Sunrise trails at Mt. Rainier National Park today, and although the primary purpose of my hike was birding, the highlights of the day were not the birds. There have been a lot of wildfires in the western U.S. this summer, and there has been a lot of smoke in the lower elevations, but not so much at the mountain today. Here is a view of the lower valleys, and I'm not sure how much of this is fog and how much is smoke.

I like the photo though. While I was walking on the Wonderland Trail out of Frozen Lake a here of Mountain Goats ran (stampeded?) right in front of me across the road. I hope to put up a dTube video of this later, but here are some photos.

I also saw an American Pika, an animal in the rabbit family:

From a point called First Burrows Mountain I could look across at another hike destination called Fremont Lookout:

I did manage to see two soaring eagles, that I'm pretty sure are Golden Eagles, although another birder called them immature Bald Eagles, so I'll ask for help from friends on this ID.

Anyway it's always great to get hiking in the mountains.

Good birding. Steem on. Here is a link to more photos on a Flickr site. https://www.flickr.com/photos/43201721@N02/sets/72157698706782381