Snowshoeing At Rainier
December 22cnd, 2007:
My friend Hoosierdaddy, Ford and I headed up to Mt. Rainier for some snowshoeing, being as today was the only semi nice day in the middle of a sea of storms. In the winter the only entrance left open is the main one, Nisqually, that takes you to Longmire and Paradise.
It doesn't matter how many times I see the destruction that is still visible from the Nov. 2006 storm that closed Rainier for half a year - it still shocks me.
There was once a road there. And a nice little campground there on a bench above the Nisqually River, to the far left. Far to left there are a couple sites left but otherwise it is just a lot of air over a year later below you. And a snarling glacial fed river that would like to remind us that it rules, not us.
Well, those storms I mentioned? They have been dumping snow. Fast and hard. That meant fresh light powder. We were so nice to let people pass us. I mean, it is an honor to break trail! You didn't know that?
And then the postholing started, even in snowshoes and tails. I got
more than a few crotch deep ones myself. Since everyone was starting at
the same time and it was the only real avalanche safe area today, the trail
had a couple groups together. It was nice in a way. Everyone was so
nice to each other. So in the long run, most everyone took turns
breaking trail. (Oh not me. I was still pulling my legs out of holes!)
But the scenery made up for it.
We headed up and over Mazama Ridge and found deep powdery fluff on the other side. Down to Reflection Lakes we went.
It was around 25* at the lakes, as long as you were not in the wind.
Sadly the avy danger was too high today to take the easy way back on Steve Canyons Road.
The lighting was pretty intense as the day wore down (3 pm)
Ford wondering why mom is hacking up her lungs and cursing the long gain back up to the ridge....having had the crud for the past 3 weeks..wow, that fresh mountain air gets the lungs coughing!
Looking back at the Tatoosh Ridge, with Pinnacle Peak poking up high:
Some pretty interesting clouds started to come in:
As always is there not much more better than a day in Tahoma's shadow? I think not!
My friend Hoosierdaddy, Ford and I headed up to Mt. Rainier for some snowshoeing, being as today was the only semi nice day in the middle of a sea of storms. In the winter the only entrance left open is the main one, Nisqually, that takes you to Longmire and Paradise.
It doesn't matter how many times I see the destruction that is still visible from the Nov. 2006 storm that closed Rainier for half a year - it still shocks me.
There was once a road there. And a nice little campground there on a bench above the Nisqually River, to the far left. Far to left there are a couple sites left but otherwise it is just a lot of air over a year later below you. And a snarling glacial fed river that would like to remind us that it rules, not us.
Well, those storms I mentioned? They have been dumping snow. Fast and hard. That meant fresh light powder. We were so nice to let people pass us. I mean, it is an honor to break trail! You didn't know that?
And then the postholing started, even in snowshoes and tails. I got
more than a few crotch deep ones myself. Since everyone was starting at
the same time and it was the only real avalanche safe area today, the trail
had a couple groups together. It was nice in a way. Everyone was so
nice to each other. So in the long run, most everyone took turns
breaking trail. (Oh not me. I was still pulling my legs out of holes!)But the scenery made up for it.
We headed up and over Mazama Ridge and found deep powdery fluff on the other side. Down to Reflection Lakes we went.
It was around 25* at the lakes, as long as you were not in the wind.
Sadly the avy danger was too high today to take the easy way back on Steve Canyons Road.
The lighting was pretty intense as the day wore down (3 pm)
Ford wondering why mom is hacking up her lungs and cursing the long gain back up to the ridge....having had the crud for the past 3 weeks..wow, that fresh mountain air gets the lungs coughing!
Looking back at the Tatoosh Ridge, with Pinnacle Peak poking up high:
Some pretty interesting clouds started to come in:
As always is there not much more better than a day in Tahoma's shadow? I think not!
A Day At Rainier
October 14th, 2007:
I spent the day hiking with my friends Hoosierdaddy and his wife Carol up at Rainier. As I was driving home from the trail yesterday I had gotten a message asking if I wanted to go up to Paradise in the morning as our hiking companion from this summers Oregon PCT adventure, Susan, was in town for the weekend.
Hey, an excuse to go to Rainier? By all means! We met up early and were on the road through thick fog. As we drove higher we broke through to bright sun and blue skies. It wasn't even chilly at 5500 ft. A treat of day for mid-October!
Mt. Rainier from a few feet up the trail:
Hoosierdaddy and Susan wanted to go do the grand loop of Skyline, but Carol and I decided to do something easier but just as scenic...we played tourist hiker. Always fun ;-) We hiked all over, seeing what caught our eyes. The colors were flaming orange, red and yellow.
Looking up into the start of Edith Basin:
Looking back at the Tatoosh Ridge:
We continued on our hikes and looked down into this meadow:
After we all met back up we headed down into Paradise Valley:
We headed over to Reflection Lakes:
Saw this survey marker that I didn't notice in 2004 when we did the Wonderland:
We watched as Rainier slowly developed a lenticular cloud and slowly drove down the mountain. As we headed back towards home we could see the lenticular develop into a massive one, a near triple version. Should be some fun and interesting winter like weather coming in tonight and tomorrow to Rainier. We truly lucked out with the weather....
I spent the day hiking with my friends Hoosierdaddy and his wife Carol up at Rainier. As I was driving home from the trail yesterday I had gotten a message asking if I wanted to go up to Paradise in the morning as our hiking companion from this summers Oregon PCT adventure, Susan, was in town for the weekend.
Hey, an excuse to go to Rainier? By all means! We met up early and were on the road through thick fog. As we drove higher we broke through to bright sun and blue skies. It wasn't even chilly at 5500 ft. A treat of day for mid-October!
Mt. Rainier from a few feet up the trail:
Hoosierdaddy and Susan wanted to go do the grand loop of Skyline, but Carol and I decided to do something easier but just as scenic...we played tourist hiker. Always fun ;-) We hiked all over, seeing what caught our eyes. The colors were flaming orange, red and yellow.
Looking up into the start of Edith Basin:
Looking back at the Tatoosh Ridge:
We continued on our hikes and looked down into this meadow:
After we all met back up we headed down into Paradise Valley:
We headed over to Reflection Lakes:
Saw this survey marker that I didn't notice in 2004 when we did the Wonderland:
We watched as Rainier slowly developed a lenticular cloud and slowly drove down the mountain. As we headed back towards home we could see the lenticular develop into a massive one, a near triple version. Should be some fun and interesting winter like weather coming in tonight and tomorrow to Rainier. We truly lucked out with the weather....
Snow Lake
August 5th, 2007:
We got an early start, to avoid the bugs, the heat and the crowds. Our choice was to do Snow Lake, up at Snoqualmie Pass. Snow Lake is one of the heaviest visited trails in Washington State, but for good reason. It is a shorter hike (less than 3 miles one way to the first areas by the lake), the elevation gain goes quickly, and it is always kept in top shape.
Trailhead had not been there before, so I figured she might like it. It would give her an introduction to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. We were on the trail by 8 am. The sun was barely starting to come up, so the normally baked trail was nice to walk along. The bugs had not yet woken up either.....
Near the high point, as you cross a saddle and can see Snow Lake far below we came across a nice patch of Bear Grass:
As we went over the saddle, it got nice and cold. In the far distance you could see a mix of clouds and fog blowing in from the mountains far across the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley.
We rounded the lake, and hiked for the trail junction 3 miles in, where one can head downhill far below to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River and beyond. Many years ago, the trail to Snow Lake and then down that trail (Rock Creek Trail) were part of the Cascade Crest Trail, for those with pack animals. That of course fell to the side once the modern PCT was built. I stood there at that junction...it has been in my mind for a while to go and do the old PCT. We will see what happens on that.
Looking back down the lake as we headed towards Rock Creek:
We kept going past the junction, till we came above the lakes outlet. The bugs were getting very, very bad at this point. As badly as I wanted to keep going and head for the next lake, Gem Lake....I knew we had to call it a day.
Ford protesting, and asking "can we turn around?":
Behind him you can see the mountain tops across the Middle Fork Valley.
We headed back at this point. We attempted to have lunch above the lake, near the middle. But it was not to be. The mosquitoes were swarming. In the eyes, nose and mouth. I just couldn't take it. We moved fast, heading up the basin as fast as we could, back to the saddle. We had a break for a few minutes at the saddle. The bugs were not as bad up there. By then, the sun was out and it was getting hot, so we had black flies on the way down. But oh well! The bugs are only bad for a couple weeks every year. I can handle that. It was nice to be out, and we had good scenery.
We got an early start, to avoid the bugs, the heat and the crowds. Our choice was to do Snow Lake, up at Snoqualmie Pass. Snow Lake is one of the heaviest visited trails in Washington State, but for good reason. It is a shorter hike (less than 3 miles one way to the first areas by the lake), the elevation gain goes quickly, and it is always kept in top shape.
Trailhead had not been there before, so I figured she might like it. It would give her an introduction to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. We were on the trail by 8 am. The sun was barely starting to come up, so the normally baked trail was nice to walk along. The bugs had not yet woken up either.....
Near the high point, as you cross a saddle and can see Snow Lake far below we came across a nice patch of Bear Grass:
As we went over the saddle, it got nice and cold. In the far distance you could see a mix of clouds and fog blowing in from the mountains far across the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley.
We rounded the lake, and hiked for the trail junction 3 miles in, where one can head downhill far below to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River and beyond. Many years ago, the trail to Snow Lake and then down that trail (Rock Creek Trail) were part of the Cascade Crest Trail, for those with pack animals. That of course fell to the side once the modern PCT was built. I stood there at that junction...it has been in my mind for a while to go and do the old PCT. We will see what happens on that.
Looking back down the lake as we headed towards Rock Creek:
We kept going past the junction, till we came above the lakes outlet. The bugs were getting very, very bad at this point. As badly as I wanted to keep going and head for the next lake, Gem Lake....I knew we had to call it a day.
Ford protesting, and asking "can we turn around?":
Behind him you can see the mountain tops across the Middle Fork Valley.
We headed back at this point. We attempted to have lunch above the lake, near the middle. But it was not to be. The mosquitoes were swarming. In the eyes, nose and mouth. I just couldn't take it. We moved fast, heading up the basin as fast as we could, back to the saddle. We had a break for a few minutes at the saddle. The bugs were not as bad up there. By then, the sun was out and it was getting hot, so we had black flies on the way down. But oh well! The bugs are only bad for a couple weeks every year. I can handle that. It was nice to be out, and we had good scenery.
Early Hiking
My
son Ford started hiking with me very young - first in a backpack and a
jogger stroller then eventually walking alongside me. At 10 he is tall
and beats me...it wasn't that many years ago he was toddling behind me.
I came across some old photos recently and scanned them in. Good memories indeed. May of the photos were taken in 2002 when he was 4 and took to hiking like a natural.
With Ford in winter of 1998 in the Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic NP.
Below the summit of Sauk Mt, North Cascades. Sauk Lake is below us. Summer of 2002.
At Cascade Pass, North Cascades. Summer of 2002.
Maple Pass, North Cascades. Late summer 2002.
Cape Alava, Olympic Coast. Winter 2001-02.
Blue Lake, North Cascades. Early Fall 2002.
I came across some old photos recently and scanned them in. Good memories indeed. May of the photos were taken in 2002 when he was 4 and took to hiking like a natural.
With Ford in winter of 1998 in the Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic NP.
Below the summit of Sauk Mt, North Cascades. Sauk Lake is below us. Summer of 2002.
At Cascade Pass, North Cascades. Summer of 2002.
Maple Pass, North Cascades. Late summer 2002.
Cape Alava, Olympic Coast. Winter 2001-02.
Blue Lake, North Cascades. Early Fall 2002.
