Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day so my first reaction (apart from giggling and jumping while looking outside) was to get us out of the house and on to an adventure. And what a better day to take a trip to Rainier?
The Paradise area is easily accessible in the winter (if you don't mind the 2.5 hour drive from Seattle) and absolutely beautiful. Already a ways up the mountain, you are in a winder wonderland. And I keep going to Rainier when the entrance is free. Crazy!
I didn't have a particular addenda - more like snowshoe and have fun. We ended up going about halfway up the Camp Muir trail. Could have gone further but the winds are a bit hard on the mountain. Also hiking up Rainier means a steep and constant incline... got to love volcanoes? I wanted to make it a round trip but it was hard to figure off where to turn right off of the ridge without being swallowed in an avalanche. I'll take a there and back trip over certain death. :)
Also insane how warm it was - wearing short sleeves on snow is odd. Well and insane amounts of SPF-50 and sunglasses (and I hate sunglasses so when I am wearing them you know it is bright).
Anyways - Paradise was amazing. LOVED the trail. Loved being out on the snow. Also learned that hiking uphill in snowshoes is WAY harder than in normal shoes. Or maybe it is just the snow?
Next time I come back I want some sort of sled or skis for the way down. We slid down the steep parts just with ski-pants, but all the skiers and boarders made me jealous.
And I leave you with a photo of a snow roller. They are very rare apparently. Ryan screached to a halt when he saw one on the side of the road.
Snow and tank tops?! I love it!
ReplyDelete