March 1-2, 2014
AN here writing my first trip report for the blog! Hopefully I can keep this as entertaining as AL does!
We were just itching to spend the night outdoor, especially after I finished making my first backpack! With storms and heavy snowfall in the forecast for most of the Cascades, we drove down to Mt. Rainier to snowshoe around Paradise, where the weather was supposed to be 27/18 and 4-8" of snow. The park employees keep the roads and grounds well maintained so the drive was a breeze (chained up a couple miles from the visitor center.
We snowshoed around the center, heading up the Edith Creek Basin route for awhile, but turned back not long after as visibility was getting worse the higher we went up. The snow and the low clouds made it hard to see more than a couple hundred feet.
Backpack was the most comfortable one Ive worn, and it should be, since I made it custom fitted for my use.
There were a bunch of people building some awesome snowcaves all around the park to hunker down in for the night. I think it'd be something fun to try out, especially near the visitor center, where there's a sense of security in case things do not go according to plan (Bathroom/payphone building open 24/7) .
We continued to snowshoe around the park and made our way to the west most trail (of the two) that goes to Glacier Vista. We staked out a nice camp site near some trees on a bluff, but decided we'd make our camp closer to civilization, since I wasn't comfortable being too far out with our first snow overnight in the Tarptent Double Rainbow with that much snow expected to fall at night.
We made camp near some trees again, had our meal and headed into the tent when it got dark around 1900. Lows hit 22* F, and we only got about 2-3" of snow during the night. Our Double Rainbow held up wonderfully.
My karo step baffled down quilt I made was super toasty, and I didn't even have to cinch it up all the way. Pretty much just used it like a blanket. I didn't even get a chance to use the down hood I made because I was so warm. Here are the details on my down quilt on Backpacking Light.
Angela Finally got to use her Marmot Women's Helium 15* down sleeping bag in cold weather, and it looks like the temperature rating is pretty accurate as it actually kept her warm!
We got up around 7 and broke down camp and took a morning stroll up towards Alta Vista/Glacier Vista but turned around when the wind picked up. We didn't have any goggles on, so the snow/ice pelting our face stung and kept getting in our eyes.
After making it down off the mountain, we hung around the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise, waiting for it to open so we could grab some hot cocoa before leaving. Talked to a nice guy named Josh, who owns and operates a gear store, Peak Outdoors, in Texas, who was visiting Rainier for a week. While there, the rangers gave us an awesome sled! Angela and I booked it up the Snow Play Area and took it down for a ride. The screams of pure joy coming from Angela was wonderful. We're definitely bringing friends back here to go sledding/tubing!
AN here writing my first trip report for the blog! Hopefully I can keep this as entertaining as AL does!
We were just itching to spend the night outdoor, especially after I finished making my first backpack! With storms and heavy snowfall in the forecast for most of the Cascades, we drove down to Mt. Rainier to snowshoe around Paradise, where the weather was supposed to be 27/18 and 4-8" of snow. The park employees keep the roads and grounds well maintained so the drive was a breeze (chained up a couple miles from the visitor center.
We snowshoed around the center, heading up the Edith Creek Basin route for awhile, but turned back not long after as visibility was getting worse the higher we went up. The snow and the low clouds made it hard to see more than a couple hundred feet.
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| Where's the mountain? |
There were a bunch of people building some awesome snowcaves all around the park to hunker down in for the night. I think it'd be something fun to try out, especially near the visitor center, where there's a sense of security in case things do not go according to plan (Bathroom/payphone building open 24/7) .
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| Snowboard tracks. |
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| Stomping down the snow to make camp! |
My karo step baffled down quilt I made was super toasty, and I didn't even have to cinch it up all the way. Pretty much just used it like a blanket. I didn't even get a chance to use the down hood I made because I was so warm. Here are the details on my down quilt on Backpacking Light.
Angela Finally got to use her Marmot Women's Helium 15* down sleeping bag in cold weather, and it looks like the temperature rating is pretty accurate as it actually kept her warm!
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| Packing up. So sad. |
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| A much clearer morning! |
We got up around 7 and broke down camp and took a morning stroll up towards Alta Vista/Glacier Vista but turned around when the wind picked up. We didn't have any goggles on, so the snow/ice pelting our face stung and kept getting in our eyes.