I was so excited to hit snow that hadn't been obliterated by postholers only to discover the 9 a.m.-ers made quick work of the pretty smooth stuff. It's a total mess. Be prepared. It's also so so pretty. I took Skyline up being mindful not to veer too much to the right and accidentally take Alta Vista. I eventually left the skyline trail and moved left toward where Glacier Vista would be. You get a view of everything up there and get to watch the tons of people going up and down Panorama Point (snowshoe route). 

Things to note: The road was fine going up and down with one part being a little icy on the way up and everything melted on the way down.

Early in the day, my snowshoes sank in the snow a couple inches with each step. After a couple hours in the sunshine, that stuff was super loose. 

Tomorrow is an orange-considerable avalanche risk day for over 5500ft. 

Last thing-the people were great. Nice talking to you, Joe, George, and Chance. Happy adventuring!

All vehicles need to carry chains in the park. After Longmire, all vehicles required to use chains unless AWD with traction tires. (Not all cars did but that’s what the signs said) Patrol said two cars went off the road yesterday, but with my chains + AWD and going slow I was fine today.

Snowshoes a must. Lots of powder, many trails snowed over and trail finding needed in those areas. Skyline was packed down enough to see by 11 am, but even that was pretty loose/sloppy and took some thought about foot placement. Ended up following some folks in normal boots on the way down which left holes in the middle of the path. :(

Pretty low visibility today, so didn’t go all the way to the top because of no views (most people I passed said the same thing). Still nice chance to get out in the snow and enjoy fresh air. I was ready to turn around if I began to lose the trail or couldn’t see my surroundings. Wind also blew snow around making it more difficult to see.

Only went a mile up before turning around. It’s pretty steep and difficult, and took me an hour to complete that mile, and roughly 45 minutes to come back down, with breathers along the way.

Plenty of parking, nice bathrooms. Lots of people but trails didn’t feel too busy.

What a beautiful day to be in the mountains!

We arrived to meet our group in Longmire at 9:15am. If there was a backup waiting for the gate to open, we arrived late enough for it to clear out and there was no one around. Restrooms were cold but well stocked with TP and soap. Note that the water in the sink in the women's restroom is COLD!!! The drive was clear and bare with some icy patches, especially around the Nisqually Glacier bridge heading up to Paradise. We strategically parked in the lower parking lot to give ourselves room to spread out and gear up. There weren't too many cars parked there so we had the area to ourselves when we arrived about 10am.

Our route: We took the Nisqually Vista trail for less than a tenth of a mile and turned right to head into the Deadhorse Creek basin then connected higher up on part of the Alta Vista and Skyline trails to Glacier Vista. We chose to stay off the main route out of Paradise so it was more peaceful and we could enjoy our surroundings. 

Deadhorse Creek Basin: A short snowshoe of maybe two tenths of a mile from the lower parking lot will get you to the lip of the basin with beautiful full views of Mt. Rainier. The basin has a lot of places to have fun traveling the ups and downs of the small hills and there's lots of open spaces to enjoy the sun. This is one of a few areas that people can winter camp with permits so be on the lookout for groups of winter campers. We didn't see any but thought there probably was quite a few on Mazama Ridge with the nice weather. 

Alta Vista & Skyline: After coming out of Paradise proper, this is the main route that most people take to go higher. After we joined here, the trail widened substantially, and you could see each hill clearly. As we got higher, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams came into view. The Tatoosh Range looked like glaze on a cake it was so shiny! 

Glacier Vista: We left the masses headed to Panorama Point and turned left to find a nice flat spot to have our lunch and enjoy the sunshine. Highly recommend this vantage point, as you can see the more ambitious folks climbing their way up to Panorama Point while you get just as nice of a view without all the effort. During our lunch break we also could see Mt. Hood way off in the distance. Towards the end of our lunch a light wind started kicking up that made us wrap up our lunch and put some extra layers on.

We probably could have done this in microspikes like many others we saw, but we're all backpackers and we use the winter season to condition for summer so it was a great chance to get some training in on such a beautiful day. Round trip we clocked about 3 miles and about 900 ft of gain which took us about 3 hours and 45 minutes with about a half hour lunch break, many rest breaks, photo ops, and several clothing adjustments. 

Holy hand warmers batman! Bring it all, along with your foot warmers, parka, and face protection. If the temps weren't cold enough, the wind chill dipped the frozen landscape experienced by humans into the teens.

PASS use your interagency pass, senior pass or paid pass to enter Mt Rainier National Parks Nisqually entrance.

GATE ENTRANCE the upper gate at Longmire was clear. The gate to Paradise opened a bit after 9 am with minimal icy patches. This gate is closed Tuesday-Thursday this winter season due to a staffing shortage. Chains must be carried in your vehicle.

PARKING The drive up from the Nisqually gate to Longmire was a bit icy and slick and continued past Longmire. It was well plowed with some light gravel for traction. A lot of parking help and assistance at the top parking area. Bathroom is nearby.

TRIP We probably could have used micro spikes but this was a snowshoe course for Olympia Mountaineers. We ended up just short of Glacier Vista due to strong winds and wind chill in the teens. A few folks mentioned toes and fingers feeling a bit numb so be careful. Also stay hydrated, bring your 10 essentials, extra food and be prepared.

We ended up going about 2.2 miles and 750' elevation and practiced a lot of snowshoe skills along the way. Great company and wonderful course, even got a nice lesson on avalanche reports and how the field reporters gather data and report. https://nwac.us

The road up to Paradise was in excellent condition. The trails are covered in about 2 feet of snow and your options are a little limited since 2 feet of snow is still not a lot but enough to need (should need) gear. I heard Nisqually Vista has a nice path cut into it but it may not have the poles up yet. The first part of Skyline is packed down so my spikes worked fine with no postholing. About twenty minues in, you run into deep postholes. Then you encounter so many postholes it becomes a hazard and really slows your trek. I cussed. It was cuss worthy. About thirty minutes up the trail, I switched to my snowshoes. That was still precarious in a few really choppy sections. It seems the trail splits. To the left you end up hitting upper Deadhorse Creek, the path I took. To the right you hit the Panorama Point snowshoe path. I then cut up Glacier Vista. I stopped before the summer route to Panorama Point. The views were surprisiningly amazing. I thought I would get a few minutes of coolness, but the weather system was very slow moving and the rain didn't hit until about 2pm. I wore my snowshoes all the way back to the parking lot and was so glad to have them as tourists slipped, slid, and zipped all over the place. While I sound cranky about the postholing, the people were all so neat to talk to.

Gear-if you're headed up to the mountain-pack the good stuff, snowshoes, poles with baskets, spikes, hand and foot warmers, buff, gloves, sunglassess, sunscreen, water. Don't forget it's tire traction time so pack that in your car along with super soft socks.