Little Sun at Sunrise - East Side of Mount Rainier

Perched on the northeast side of Mt Rainier at White River Campground, we had easy access to the beautiful Sunrise area, where the wildflowers and birds gave us a good excuse to take it slow.  (The fact that we started out at over 6000 feet and went up from there had nothing to do with it. . .)

Our goal was Dege Peak, elevation 7,006 feet.  Cal was "happy" to get to the top, where he could take a break.

Because of the overcast sky, we did not get all the promised view: "Look for Rainier, of course, but also the Sarvent Glaciers below the Cowlitz Chimneys, due south; the White River drainage and Highway 410, to the east; Sunrise and Clover Lakes of the Palisades chain directly below to the northeast; and the Stuart Range, Glacier Peak, and Mount Baker far off to the north.  If it's very clear, you can even see the Olympic Mountains from here." (from Day Hike! Mount Rainier)  Nope.

On the plus side, we got to watch a thunderstorm roll in.

And we had a visitor who might have been looking for a handout: