Mount Ranier

We made the ride over to mighty Mount Ranier yesterday. Ranier is about 14,400' and the tallest point in Washington. It's almost perfectly symetrical, the perfect volcano. Unfortunately, the weather has turned on us and it's been on and off rain with cloud covers. Not good for mountain observations. Also unfortunately, not all the roads around and through the park are open. There are still some snow closed roads which haven't opened this year, and some areas, trails and roads were severely damaged by heavy rains last year. It cut channels down the sides of the mountain to bedrock. All of this is second hand as the clouds would not allow a view. It also appears that the park needs some upgrades to handle the amount of traffic it receives. Like Glacier, stops for points of interest have inadequate parking and are often full. We weren't able to stop at Paradise Point, one of the primary attractions. The shuttles that are available run every 45 minutes, and anyway this is America where people drive their cars to where they want to go. It was along drive without much to show for it.