Finally, good snow in the mountains. On this final day of the year and the weather looking pretty good for Mt Rainier, we picked Paradise for our year end snow shoe hike. The one drawback was the 3 hour drive each way. We reached Longmire, just as the traffic was allowed up the mountain. We arrived at Paradise at 11 am, as one of the first 5 vehicles. We were told the gates at Longmire would close at 6 pm. Note: we were required to carry chains past Longmire, even though we drive a Subaru, with it’s all wheel drive. This was our first snowshoe hike in Mt Rainier. With the day partly clear, we snow shoed up the mountain to the Glacier Vista, gaining a total of 1200 feet in a 2.5 mile round trip. The vista looks up at Nisqually Glacier, and likewise down the Nisqually Valley. Views also included Mount Adams and Mt Saint Helens. Paradise provides many other snow shoe hikes. Animal sightings: as we entered the park, we stopped for a couple deer as they crossed the road. After leaving Paradise and reaching Narada Falls, we saw our first fox in the wild. The fox crossed the road then walked along the side looking at us. This fox may have been expecting a handout.

Talk about starting the New Year off right (I can't imagine how many other trip reports will be starting with a variation on that theme). Whilst the revellers still slept, I was loading my gear into the car and setting off for Mount Rainier. On the long drive down, the sun rose, revealing crystal-clear skies. What a day, what a day! By the time I arrived at the parking lot, there were already tons of cars there. People were everywhere. Most were headed over to the snow play area with there kids (oh, to be a kid again!), but plently of folks were headed out in various directions with shoeshoes or skies. I point myself N-NW, toward the headwall of the Edith Creek valley. My original plan was to head over to Mazama Ridge. This is the second time I've been up to Paradise to snowshoe, the second time I planned to do Mazama ridge, and the second time I failed. This time I got distracted by the possiblity of heading up to Golden Gate, a possibility I decided to explore. It was quite a steep climb to get up there, but well worth it. I would say that the views were fantastic, but when you are in the Paradise area, the view are ALWAYS fantastic. There was also a bit of solitude to be found there, a nice thing given the hoards of people everywhere else. From Golden Gate, I considered staying high and making my way around towards Panarama Point, but decided to drop back down into the valley and maybe head again towards Mazama Ridge. Unfortunately, my little detour cost me valuable time, and by the time I was in position to head to Mazama ridge, I decided that I wasn't really left with enough time to explore it properly. So, instead I crossed over to the west side of the Edith creek and climbed up to Glacier Vista. I spent a good amount of time roaming the Glacier Vista/Panarama Point area, trying not to step on other snowshoers. It was thick with people up there. Not a place to go if you want to be alone, at least not on a sunny, holiday weekend! But the views were spectacular, and the ability to roam freely in any direction was to be enjoyed; it almost feels clastrophobic in the summer when you are stuck having to follow the trails. In all, a lovely day and (yes, I'll say it again) a perfect start to the New Year!

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.