January 4, 2014
Happy New Year, Everyone!
I cannot believe we have not been on a hike since late October. Lame-o.
I'm quite certain all us hiker folk checked the weather forecast for this past weekend and thought "I must get to the great outdoors". Seriously, could we have asked for better weather?? We left Mill Creek at 7:30 am and arrived at the Mount Rainier National Park gate/toll booth where we were able to purchase an interagency annual pass. Due to icy conditions, chains were required for all 2WD vehicles. All 4WD vehicles just needed to have chains in the car. The drive up to the lot was well paved and slightly icy with a light dusting of snow. Watch out for those snow plows, though. They are wide and are not afraid to come barreling down the hill right at you. We arrived at the Paradise Lodge parking area at 10:45 am. The lot was about half to 3/4 full with staff directing parking.
As we were strapping on our snowshoes, the nice ranger lady advised us to reconsider going up to Panorama Point due to moderate avalanche danger. Okay, we would evaluate once we got there. Did I mention this was our first time snowshoeing EVER? Well, it was. And it was so freakin' fun!!! Loved it. Andy and I are thinking of a snowshoe overnight in the near future. If you're wondering, you cannot camp at Paradise in the winter until there is at least 5 feet of snow. There was, however, plenty of snow for snowshoeing and some people were even skiing. Others were wearing sneakers (which I would not recommend).
Needless to say, we saw and met many people. Andy, Crystal and I ended up stopping for lunch along Alta Vista (?). Glacier Vista was quite crowded, but along Alta Vista you could see both Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens on this clear and sunny day.
I wanted to go up there for lunch.
Andy snowshoeing along Alta Vista (I believe). It was icy, but not a problem with our shoes. Also, don't forget your sunglasses. Also, look at the cool cloud! It was so flat and round and barely moved the whole time we were up there. It was like a spaceship (because I know what spaceships look like)!
View of Rainier from our lunch spot.
During lunch, there were several powerful gusts of wind. You could see the snow flying off of Rainier and showering the people climbing up to Panorama Point. In the photo below, I was able to count about 33 people attempting the climb up. Apparently you are able to see down to Oregon and spot Mt. Hood from there. Awesome!
Sadly, we did not make the climb up to Panorama Point :( No worries, I had a wonderful first time snowshoeing. This is us in front of Mt. Rainier:
Hello! I know, I got my hair chopped off. Ya dig?
The Mountain.
Until next time~
Happy New Year, Everyone!
I cannot believe we have not been on a hike since late October. Lame-o.
I'm quite certain all us hiker folk checked the weather forecast for this past weekend and thought "I must get to the great outdoors". Seriously, could we have asked for better weather?? We left Mill Creek at 7:30 am and arrived at the Mount Rainier National Park gate/toll booth where we were able to purchase an interagency annual pass. Due to icy conditions, chains were required for all 2WD vehicles. All 4WD vehicles just needed to have chains in the car. The drive up to the lot was well paved and slightly icy with a light dusting of snow. Watch out for those snow plows, though. They are wide and are not afraid to come barreling down the hill right at you. We arrived at the Paradise Lodge parking area at 10:45 am. The lot was about half to 3/4 full with staff directing parking.
As we were strapping on our snowshoes, the nice ranger lady advised us to reconsider going up to Panorama Point due to moderate avalanche danger. Okay, we would evaluate once we got there. Did I mention this was our first time snowshoeing EVER? Well, it was. And it was so freakin' fun!!! Loved it. Andy and I are thinking of a snowshoe overnight in the near future. If you're wondering, you cannot camp at Paradise in the winter until there is at least 5 feet of snow. There was, however, plenty of snow for snowshoeing and some people were even skiing. Others were wearing sneakers (which I would not recommend).
Needless to say, we saw and met many people. Andy, Crystal and I ended up stopping for lunch along Alta Vista (?). Glacier Vista was quite crowded, but along Alta Vista you could see both Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens on this clear and sunny day.
During lunch, there were several powerful gusts of wind. You could see the snow flying off of Rainier and showering the people climbing up to Panorama Point. In the photo below, I was able to count about 33 people attempting the climb up. Apparently you are able to see down to Oregon and spot Mt. Hood from there. Awesome!
Sadly, we did not make the climb up to Panorama Point :( No worries, I had a wonderful first time snowshoeing. This is us in front of Mt. Rainier:
