Lighting for photos at Mt Ranier
 

Hello. We will be visiting Mt Ranier at the end of August, staying at Paradise Inn. We will have one morning and two afternoons there, so I want to visit places at the right time of day. Not looking for perfect photographic lighting, just want to avoid getting to a place when the sun is causing lots of glare. I don't mind overhead lighting, just that glare where you can't see anything clearly. So in taking photos of the mountain from Paradise, is morning or afternoon a better plan, or does it matter? Same question for the Snow/Bench Lake trail, Thanks!

I listened to a talk by a professional photographer recently, and he said he uses Google maps to figure out stuff like that before his trips.

~Liz

Early morning is a good time to take shots from Reflection Lake. If you are going to visit the east side (Sunrise area) it is best in the morning.

I would think the Paradise area is good for afternoon/evening shots but honestly I don't know as I've never stayed there overnight. Hopefully you have clear enough skies so you can see the mountain.

Ok, thank you. We were planning on Reflection Lakes and Bench/Snow lake in the morning and Paradise on both afternoons anyway. But as you said, if the weather doesn't cooperate we'll do what we can when we can see the mountain.

Just returned from Rainier yesterday(our second trip there). Sadly, most of the really good wildflowers will be there were not rocking and rolling yet. Still very good though. Having all the extra snow there was really interesting to see. The snow should be much less in a month and the wildflowers much more.
The Beargrass on Bench Lake Trail was totally crazy. Very awesome sight. That will be gone by then. It's just a trade off.
Wherearewe is correct. Reflection Lake is best early early.

We tried to hike Skyline Trail to Panorama Point. However, so much snow made it a little dangerous near the top, so we didn't make it all the way. We saw several people slip and slide 30 feet or so. Would have been cool to do if you knew you weren't going to get hurt. My wife said, no way was she going to attempt it, so we turned around.

We also did Naches Loop--Spectacular!

There are so many super little good lakes at Rainier. Really any train is good.
We saw a silver fox at 2 different locations. Saw a bear with 2 cubs not far from Paradise Inn. I'll write a TR and post photos soon.
Rainier is super pretty

Lol, I was going to reply and say that someone on here was just out there and would probably have some pretty good ideas for you. But he beat me to it. Check out his pics when he does the trip report and it should give you some good ideas for what the light will be like at various times in different places.

Thanks. Sounds like there was a lot of snow this year and I may get lucky as the wildflowers will peak later than usual. We'll be there Labor Day weekend, arriving Saturday afternoon and leaving early Monday morning. Not looking forward to the crowds but it's the only time we could go. I'm debating on the Skyline hike, I know it's a must do but it's 1700 feet of elevation gain, seems like an awful lot of climbing up. Thinking of seeing Reflection lakes and doing the Bench/Snow Lake hike on the only morning we have, and walking/hiking to Myrtle Falls, Nisquilly Glacier trail and Alta Vista Trail on the two afternoons we are there, and someone in there maybe getting to Box Canyon and/or Grove of the Patriarchs. Are we missing anything we can't miss? We are going to focus on Paradise area this trip since it's so short and we don't want to spend alot of it driving to Sunrise.

I suggest you read Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher==a magnificent biography of Edward Curtis. Just sayin'!!

Grove of Patriarchs is a long drive IMOP. I think I'm thinking about the same spot. Isn't that the short hike to the big trees? If so, the trees are very nice, but nothing compared to Redwoods or Sequoias. So, not sure it would be worth the effort. I hiked it about 2 years ago with my daughter, but just drove right on by with my wife on this trip.

Skyline is a good hike, but it's no cakewalk. I would for sure do it first thing in the morning. Less people and cooler. It can be windy the higher you get. They are working on part of the trail. Which is no big deal as there are multiple multiple multiple trails around skyline/paradise/panorama pt. The Golden Gate trail goes right up and cuts a mile off. But super steep. I would do it coming down not up.

Don't miss Narada Falls. It's right on the road. I would do it in the morning. A bit tricky to photograph because of all the mist. One of the prettiest waterfalls I've ever seen and I'm somewhat of a waterfall nut. I think it's the best on in Washington(Snoqualmie is nice too--you might wanna stop to or from the park).

You can go up past Myrtle and continue as far as you like on Skyline. You can always turn around. The higher you go the better the views(Mt. Adams, Hood, Helens, Etc).

Thanks for the tip on Grove of the Patriarchs. It is a long drive and I'm relieved to hear you say it's not comparable to the Old Growth Sequoias. We'll skip that. I think we'll still try to get to Box Canyon though, it seems neat and is alot closer to Paradise, probably do that after we hike Bench/Snow Lakes since we are going in that direction. It's also good to be reminded that we can take Skyline further than Myrtle Falls without trying to make it all the way to Panoramic point. The trails seem to all intersect and it's hard to visualize how this is all laid out. We are planning on Myrtle, Alta Vista and Nisquilly for sure, are they all part of the Skyline trail or different? Will stop at Narada Falls and Ricksecker loop drive on the way in on the first day. Thanks so much for all the help.