Mesa Falls, Henry's Fork, Snake River, Idaho

Cyndi and I took a detour to view Lower Mesa Falls on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River on our way to Yellowstone National Park.  How very awesome.

Above is Lower Mesa Falls.

Fireweed Chamerion angustifolium

I call this one, "I love my iPhone."  Both Cyndi and I got iPhones on a shared plan, and Cyndi often claims to hate it, and says it is very expensive (which it was).  But she's often seen holding it up to scan the scenery, and I'm often caught talking to mine.

I'm not trying to do some product placement here, and have not had the chance to try out the competing products.  I'm just saying, to see us becoming one with our technology is an interesting journey and raises a lot of questions.

I needed a cell phone with pager capability for work.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You can really begin to get an idea of how big this waterfall is when you view the image below full size by clicking on it, and see that there's a second observation deck beyond the first, one that is right at the top of Upper Mesa Falls.

The cascade is about 200 feet wide, and the vertical drop is 114 feet.

Mt. Rainier National Park

On the homeward leg of our vacation, we camped just outside of Mt. Rainier National Park.

When we awoke the early morning light was reflecting off this stream.

We drove up to Paradise, and stopped on the way to look down into the steep canyon carved by the dark, silty glacier meltwater that feeds the Cowlitz River.  It was well over 100 feet below the bridge to the water.

Though you can't see it in this image, the canyon is just at the left of this meadow, and the meadow sits on solid rock polished smooth by glaciers.

Mt. Rainier is covered in snow and blue ice glaciers, and the water from melting snow and ice cascades in rivulets and waterfalls.

Tiger Lily. Lilium columbianum.  With beargrass in the background.  The wildflowers were an astounding symphony of color.