Spent a short weekend at an Ashford cabin aimed at doing a bunch of easy walks/snowshoes..

Paradise ( sunday ):

• After breaking the mother-in-law on the carpark ice, did the usual uphill to the base of pano point, but this time in snowshoes
• Snow varied from firm to deep depending on wind deposit direction.
• Small triggered slides on SW aspect ~6000 with 5" soft on medium crust
• Sad the road is only open sat/sun this year, as there is certainly the demand, with the upper lot probably 80% full
• Chains required to be at least carried by all ( can rent in Ashford ), and when we visited the conditions required them to be worn for 2WDs.
• They are serious about locking the gate at the designated time, so don't play it too close at the end of the day.  Ranger guy told us that if you get locked out, go to the front desk at the Inn and they will call a ( likely grumpy ) ranger to leave their dinner.

Minor walks:

• Longmire meadows: Just did the small loop from the lodge, and hadn't realized there were so many springs. Trail 50% snow, but was a bit icy at times, so recommend carrying light traction even if you don't use it. Hot chocolate at the Inn was worth it, especially drinking on the veranda rocking chairs ( how decadent )
• Twin firs loop: Small little 0.4mi up/down loop, with forest and creek being the main attraction, 98% snow free
• Kautz Creek: Wandered up for some way past the viewpoint on easy trail, main attraction being pretty bench forests and the view upward at Rainier. 95% snow free, but the initial boardwalk was pretty slick, not sure why they don't use a layer of chicken wire ( or equivalent ) like other places in the world
• Pastries and "hot tub" were terrific at the Ukrainian place ( Paradise Village ) in Ashford

When we were there the weather up top was grey, but we did get glimpses of the mountain with a glorious dusting of fresh snow, so will definitely try another winter time visit

We passed through the entrance at Longmire in record time around 9AM - no wait at all! The road from Longmire to Paradise had intermittent patches of frost and ice, especially in the shaded areas. We noticed the ice more on our way down and felt our vehicle slide at times coming around the turns - take it slow and easy!

Plenty of parking available when we arrived at Paradise around 9:30AM. The restrooms at Paradise were open and heated.

There were several well-defined paths leading out of Paradise toward the mountain, so there was no need for route finding today.

For our trek we used snowshoes, poles, gaiters, sunglasses, and carried several layers. The majority of folks we saw were snowshoeing, with a handful of others trekking with their skis and snowboards.

Overall, we could not have asked for a more perfect day for snowshoeing at Rainier!

All trails at Paradise are snow covered. The rangers recommend snowshoes because of the danger of post holing in the slushy snow, though many people were hiking without them. I found all the boot holes in the snow made snowshoeing a little bit tricky. By early afternoon, the snow was quite slushy and harder to walk in. The views were fabulous!

To help you plan your visit, here is the information I got from the park rangers:

Use sunscreen and drink water!

Stay on the snow to help the flowers grow! Don't walk on, sit, or put gear on the areas that have melted out, even if it's bare ground. Plants will grow there if we stay off them. Please help to spread the word about this! 

Hiking to Panorama Point is not recommended. Snowshoes are recommended if you do decide to do it.  The hike to Myrtle Falls is fine without snowshoes but you can't access the viewpoints of the falls because of the danger of falling in. Beware of snow bridges! This is a particularly dangerous time of year in the park. Paradise Valley Road is car free and a quiet walk if you don't want a lot of snow. The hike to Comet Falls is not recommended due to hazardous conditions. Also, the hike across the road from Cougar Rock campground is not recommended. The bridge across the river is in but not the hand railings. Reflection Lakes are still under snow but melting out. Don't venture out to them. Steven Canyon Road is closed at the Snow Lake trailhead. It's scheduled to open July 5th along with the Paradise Valley Road. On the plus side, the visitor center is open, the food service is operating, and Rampart Ridge trail is recommended. It has only a couple of snow patches at the top.

Getting there: Went on an REI trip so this was done in an REI van. Chains were needed for two-wheel cars due to reports of black ice but overall, no issues while going slow when needed. 

Bathrooms: The visitor center wasn't open but the other bathrooms were and were in great shape. 

We meandered around up to Glacier Vista on a pretty warm, bluebird day and it was incredible. We were cutting through a lot of snow which wasn't packed down and some people did fall into some foot holes but overall it was a good trail as long as you watched your step if needed. There were definitely other visitors there it did not feel crowded and everyone had plenty of space to spread out and enjoy the mountain. I was able to see Mt Adams, Mt Hood and Mt St Helens from the vista. I included pictures but of course they do not do a justice. 

Low avalanche danger and perfect weather made today a great day for my yearly Rainier snow hike. I had snowshoes but ended up being too lazy to put them on... There are many solid bootpaths to most of the popular destinations, and if you stay on them you can manage in just boots, or microspikes. I put on spikes at the beginning of the day and just never took them off, but I did see people without them. If you want to blaze your own trail, snowshoes will definitely make it easier, though I never post-holed more than ankle deep the few times I veered from previous paths.  

Mostly I was just noodling around, taking pictures and enjoying the day... Started off going to Nisqually Vista (easy, not much climb, but doesn't have as sweeping of views as up towards Panorama Point), then loosely followed Dead Horse Creek (I think?), then up towards Glacier Vista. I was being paranoid about time so I didn't make it all the way up there. Skipped Panorama Point this time... just didn't have the energy. Started down towards Alta Vista, then realized I had enough extra time to check out Myrtle Falls, so I heel plunged a little down to Skyline trail, checked out the falls (a little water flowing!) and took Skyline back to Paradise. The loop I did was only about 4.5 miles. My energy levels are still pretty low, but I'm doing what I can.

The roads were bare until Longmire, after that there was some packed snow/ice (mostly in the morning). I saw a bunch of signs saying chains required on all but AWD vehicles with "approved traction tires" and they did ask me if I had chains at the park entrance. I had tire socks in the trunk but my AWD subaru was fine without them today. The gate at Longmire closes at 4pm, and the ranger I spoke to recommended leaving Paradise between 3-3:30 to get down in time and not get locked in. I left at 3:10 and had plenty of time.

Also, just wanna say that weekday hiking is the bomb... I definitely saw fewer than twenty people (spaced out) ALL DAY. Which was nuts. Nice weekends at Paradise are a total zoo.

 Also, also, sunscreen + eye protection are mandatory on sunny days unless you want to hurt yourself! It was so nice out today that I was just in a base and mid layer.. no jacket, and only glove liners! ☀️