The gorge or Rainier?

I'm still in the process of planning my trip to the PNW and am on the fence on which one of these locations would be a better choice to go. I'd love to see the Columbia river gorge, but from all of the incredible images I am seeing lately, the greens and waterfalls might have faded and slowed down by then (last week of July first week of August). On the other hand, I know the wildflower season should be fairly decent in Mount Rainier by then and would definitely like to see some mountain scenery. I'll be visiting the Rainforest's in Olympic national park so the lushness of the gorge might be a little easier to give up on. I will be at either location for two nights so any suggestions on what would be the better option is greatly appreciated.

That's a tough one Peter. In years when the flowers bloom early to mid, I would say Rainier for sure. It's closer to ONP, and I agree the contrast would be nice. However, so far the higher snow pack is late in leaving this year, and if that is true Rainier may be delayed until later in August. OTOH, the melting snow may keep the gorge flowing at higher volume later in the year.

Take a look at the discussion in the Group Camping Shoot sticky thread; you may want to consider the Adams area. If the bloom is really late, St. Helens might even be an option too.

Thanks John, from what I've read on the NPS site Rainier is starting to show some wildflowers at the lower elevations of the park. Unfortunately our schedule isn't quite flexible on dates because for Rainier I'd prefer mid/late august. I guess we shall see what the next month brings. Hopefully most of the snow melts quickly and gives way for a few nice carpets of flowers.

I shot wildflowers in the Paradise area last year on Sept 26. On this date last year Paradise had 160 inches of snow on the ground, as of today there is still about 120 inches. Unless we have a hot summer I would guess that flowers will be late August.