Hoping this might be my last snowshoe of the season, but you NEVER know with our crazy weather. I drug Annie up kicking and screaming (yeah right) to one of my favorite places.. Paradise.. um, well, until Sunrise opens anyway. The skies started out a little grey and the mountain was hiding a bit at first. But throughout the day it kept getting better and better. The goal was panorama point today but I forget that Annie doesn't use poles so when she saw how steep it was we changed to Glacier Vista and it was just as nice. Took a ton of photos of the conga line going up to higher. It was still early so we were going to get some more miles in. But when we arrived at the parking lot, I couldn't get out! I was blocked in! Cars were 3 deep on all sides and I parked on an end spot. I have NEVER encountered this in all my years of coming up here. It was NUTS! I parked next to a Black FJ and they got back to their car only to find to be blocked in too and managed to get out by no small feat of a serious MAZE. I knew I could not do the same in my car it's just too big and the cars were too close. The guy actually offered to do it for me, I said only if you really WANT to, but I could wait for cars to come back.. but he was nice and slowly maneuvered through the MAZE one more time. I didn't get their names but am truly grateful from one FJ owner to another, you guys ROCKED! From then we moved on to a quick pit stop at Narada falls we noticed the Steven's Canyon road was plowed. We couldn't decide where to go back up to Barn Flats or Reflection Lake or just head home, so we flipped a coin! Reflection Lake won.. we walked the pavement to the lake and built snowmen and ate and laid in the sun, maybe too much. Totally sunburned.. I forgot about to put sunscreen on my neck..not good! Great day in the mountains...

Took advantage of the only nice day we've had for a few weeks. Didn't expect that much wind at Paradise, but I survived. It was SUPER WINDY, most I have ever encountered. Did a nice loop today didn't make it to the top of Panorama Point but that's okay, there's always another trip around the corner for me. There's lots of new snow up here and it's nice and powdery. Made for cool snow patterns everywhere with the windy. Had issues with my snow shoes for the first time coming down, luckly I was almost to the parking lot. Dang straps wouldn't stay tight, they might be going back to REI. Besides that just another beautiful day in Paradise.

Spend as little time in the exposed and windy parking lot as you can. You'll lose heat and energy getting geared up with all the wind. Instead head to the Visitors Center for limited protection to get your snowshoes on. Once geared up head for the snow expect to be cold in the exposed sections where the wind will rip away your heat. In the trees there's plenty of protection and you'll be much more comfortable. There's a loop that is well wanded and has a groove dug out by previous snowshoers making an easy path to follow. Feel free to roam off the beaten path and explore around the snow everywhere is hard and stable. Be wary off sudden drop offs. Keep in mind this post was put up on 12-6 and conditions can change in an instant.

A missed freeway exit led us to an unexpected and wonderful experience. We were on I5 headed south for I90 intending to head up to Snow Lake, when we found ourselves in the wrong lane and couldn't get off in time. We hated to have to go miles to the next exit and turn around, and as we groused about it we saw Mount Rainier looming above us and said: "Why don't we go there instead?" We kept on driving--and then everything clicked--everything was perfect. We got up to Paradise just before noon, discovered there was actually a vacancy at the Inn, checked in and were on the trail by 12:30. It was absolutely gorgeous in the meadows. The bright red leaves of the millions of blueberry bushes shone in the sunshine. We headed up the Skyline Trail to the cutoff to the Pebble Creek Trail and took it to the creek. Neither of us likes to cross rapid streams, even though all sorts of people (including children) were heading across it. Instead, we stayed on the south side of the creek and made our way up it and under and alongside the snow field to a large rock at about 7600 feet. The mountain looked amazingly bare--the snowfield dwindled, and glaciers diminished (Global Warming!). From our viewpoint we could see Mt Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and even in the farthest distance, Mt. Hood. Unfortunately my camera was out of film (yes, I'm still not digitized), and I regretted not being able to capture the magnificence of the day. We returned to the Skyline Trail and continued the loop over the High Skyline and back by way of the Golden Gates Trail. Ironically, that night, they showed the first section of Ken Burns film about the National Parks in the lobby. Monday morning, we got up early and did a second hike, this time to the Paradise Glacier. Here again we were saddened by the retreat of the glaciers. I remember when the Ice Caves were still existant. We went a brief way past the end of the maintained trail and climbed a small knoll for a better view. The trail back to Paradise has the best views of the eastern meadows and they are truly breathtaking. These were defintely the two best days of hiking for the season. The clouds began to come in as we were leaving after lunch and we knew that snow would be falling at Paradise before the night was over.

We hiked the Skyline Trail and Glacier Vista Trail up and down to/from Panorama Point. The trail starts paved and about a mile up becomes ground bordered by large rocks to keep you on the trail. It is approx 2.5 miles to Panorama Point and 1,300 - 1,400 foot elevation gain. Along the way you pass through some of the meadows that Mt. Rainier is famous for, but remember to stay on the trail "Don't be a Meadow Stomper" as the rangers say. We saw Marmouts, deer, and a mountain goat on our hike, which took around 4 hours including a stop at the top for lunch. When we got to the top it was a bit cloudy, but it did disapate enough to see that on a very clear day you could see for miles in almost 360 degrees. Come prepared for any weather and bring lots of water. Both these trails are very well used with LOTS of people.