When I saw that I could photograph this marmot against the brown background, I prayed that the heavy winds would bring cloud cover to soften the afternoon light, but alas it was not to be. I’d get some occasional clouds later in the day but by then the marmot was long gone.

You can’t have everything. ;)

Back in the fall I spent the afternoon watching the large colony of marmots at the end of the Summerland Trail in Mount Rainier National Park, but it wasn’t until the tail end of my day that I spotted this youngster, the only young one I saw on the day. It was so much smaller than the other marmots that I’d guess that it had been born in the spring and was about to face its first winter.

As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, some of the marmots started to head up towards what I assume was their home in the rocks above the trail. When the little one jumped down to follow, it landed on an unstable rock that crashed loudly onto the rocks below. The other marmots rose and froze to attention while the youngster sprinted up and away. I’m so jealous of how marmots speed across a jumbled talus field compared to my slow plodding even on the open trail that it was nice to see that even they occasionally put a foot wrong.

The higher elevations in the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier got a light dusting of snow on the morning of my last day there but it melted when the sun rose. After hiking a bit on the Sourdough Ridge Trail early in the day hoping to see marmots, pikas, or grouse (and not seeing any), I went a little lower in elevation to the trailhead of the Summerland Trail. The trail is an uphill march mostly through a forest before you pop out into a mountain meadow at the very end of the trail, I chose it since there was a chance of seeing hoary marmots and elk in the meadow (the mountain views from the meadow are also spectacular and make up for the lack of views in the forest).

I didn’t see any elk but I did see a few marmots when I first entered the talus field. The afternoon sun didn’t make for good light for pictures but this marmot was shadowed by rocks where the snow hadn’t melted. I followed the trail through the rocks and saw more and more marmots until I realized just how large the colony is there at the end of the trail, this was by far the largest marmot colony of any species I’ve ever come across.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the marmots as at least one was usually close to the trail, taking advantage of every passing cloud to improve the light. I had thoughts about staying until sunset but I still had a long hike back down and while I had my headlamp, I was hiking alone and didn’t want to risk it. When the marmots that had been near the trail were no longer around, I took that as my cue and headed back down the trail.

A hoary marmot at the end of Mount Rainier’s Summerland Trail eeks out the last bit of warmth from this sunlit rock before the mountains blocked the sun and threw its perch into shadow.

What follows is the welcome I got the moment I stepped on the trails in Mount Rainier National Park.

(Gasping in surprise) Oh my … Is that who I think it is? It cannot be but it is! It cannot be but it is! Hey everybody, Boolie’s here! Boolie’s here! Boolie’s here!

Are there any little rabbits in here? Because Boolie’s here! Boolie’s here! Boolie’s … what? Well how was I supposed to know you were asleep? I’m not even one year old!

(Speaking very softly) Are there any ground squirrels in here? Because if you’re not asleep, and you’re not very grumpy, Boolie’s here!

Nom nom nom … huckleberries huckleberries huckleberries … What was that? Did somebody say something? Nom nom nom …

It can’t be Boolie, he always goes to Yellowstone this time of year, let me go up and take a look. Well shut my mouth! It is Boolie! It is! It is! It is! If only we had a way get the word out to all the animals!

BOOLIE’S HERE!

(An elk bull halfway across the state in the Hoh Rainforest raises his head) What? What was that? Boolie’s there? Is he coming here? Can it be? OK OK, calm down. Deep breaths. All right listen up everyone, this is our chance to show him you don’t have to go to Yellowstone to photograph elk! On your best behavior!

(Here’s a description of the animals in each picture, maybe they all weren’t taken the moment I stepped on the trails).

1. The look of surprise on this American pika is actually it chewing with its mouth open. It was a part of a colony in a talus field near the start of the Palisades Lakes Trail in the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier National Park. I’ll be posting more pictures of this pika, it provided one of my favorite moments of the trip.
2. A black-tailed fawn nibbles on plants along the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park. It was one of two fawns following its mother beside the trail.
3. A black-tailed fawn nibbles on huckleberry bushes along the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park. The sections of the trail near the Paradise Inn are a great spot to look for does, fawns, and bucks.
4. A black bear eating huckleberries near the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park. This bear was the most beautiful black bear I’ve ever seen, it had brown fur with blonde hair sticking up on its back. Bears were the biggest surprise of the trip, I ended up seeing at least seven with two being close to the trail, I actually saw more bears and got better pictures than I did in Yellowstone and the Tetons last year, where I only saw a few and got no good pictures.
5. A golden-mantled ground squirrel (possibly the Cascade species, I’m not sure yet) in front of a snowfield at Panorama Point on the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park. More pictures of these charming little guys to come.
6. A hoary marmot calls out an alarm call at the end of the Summerland Trail in the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier National Park. I had never seen hoary marmots before this trip and was delighted to see them so often and up close, lots more pictures to come. This one was calling out a short alarm but it was pretty mild compared to the alarms that went out when a bear walked past a marmot colony, the marmots went berserk.
7. An elk bull sniffs the air in the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park. I enjoyed seeing elk in the lush rainforest and got a few nice pictures that contrast nicely with the elk in a sea of brown that I tend to get in Yellowstone.