Skip wanted me to join him on ride up Rainier.Turned out to be a perfect early fall ride. Morning fog burned off and then it was clear and warm enough for shorts and a jersey. The mountain has lost a lot of snow but stunning anyway. Can't tell if the autumn colors are beginning or ending at Paradise. I would have liked to spent time at Paradise but Skip was in a hurry for some reason so I don't think we got to spend more than 5 minutes before heading down. Not what I wanted at all so will have to work on that next time or just go solo.
Note: The time at Paradise was an absolute disaster and I will Never Never do this again. I love the ride to Paradise and I love time looking at the mountain and the people at Paradise. But Skip was in his usual big hurry. To the extent that when we hit the parking lot, he said he wanted to head down immediately. I said I always stay awhile and take pictures, so he grabbed my cell phone out of my hand, handed it to a total stranger and told the guy to take a picture so we could head down right away. WTF?