I’ll take a break from pictures of snow in Portland for a picture of snow in Mount Rainier. I originally wanted only the ground squirrel to be in focus with a blur of the snow of Mount Rainier in the background and the rock in the foreground. However, the rock closer to me had just enough texture that I found it distracting so I cropped that portion out. There’s a sunbeam that has broken through to illuminate just the squirrel’s eye, a lovely little touch for which I can take no credit.
This squirrel at the pinnacle of the Pinnacle Peak Trail is one of the most tame squirrels I’ve ever met, probably fed by hikers stopping to eat at the top of the trail as they enjoy the fantastic view of both Mount Rainier and the distant Cascade peaks.
As I sat down in the dirt and opened up my bag of snacks for some of my prized dried mango, I felt some very small hands atop my own. I looked down and this little squirrel was constantly looking up at me or down at the bag, trying to grab some food while the bag was open and I was distracted by the beauty before me. This tête-à-tête continued for a while, the little fellow not discouraged at all that I refused to share my bounty.
On the one hand, it’s disappointing to see a creature in such a wild environment be so tame, but on the other it did allow me to enjoy the squirrel at a much closer range than I would have otherwise. I did see some other hikers feed it, but mostly I saw it forage naturally on its own, and it wasn’t overweight so I doubt it was indulging too heavily in tasty treats.
I did eventually shoo the little thief away, not because it was being aggressive, but because its constant movements were kicking fine dirt onto my camera bag and I didn’t want to risk it also getting on my camera gear and gumming up the lenses. I saw many ground squirrels on this trip, even on trails more popular than this one, and even on this trail just a short distance away, yet this is the only one that approached me offering to lighten my load.
