Set out from parking lot at Paradise Inn at around 9:45 AM. Took paved path past Myrtle Falls and took trail to right when I came to junction with Golden Gate trail. Nice views of Mt Rainier this morning and wildflowers still blooming in meadows. Trail switches back uphill to junction with Reflection Lakes trail. Went left at junction (stayed on Skyline trail). Went short distance and took spur trail to Paradise Glacier. Saw couple ahead and reached them toward the end of the trail. They told me they had hiked this trail 20 years ago when they first met. There were ice caves and a real glacier terminus back then. Now it is just a snowfield. A sign states end of maintained trail. I hiked on the snowfield a ways and saw some people way up above on the Skyline trail. I decided to traverse back that way. Went down to a creek and crossed then up a semi-steep snowfield. Reconnected with Skyline trail. Saw lady just up ahead and then saw a young bear. I caught up to the lady in an attempt to warn her about the bear. An older man had also seen it and the 3 of us all snapped photos of the bear. I got a couple of photos with groups doing ice axe training far in the background. The bear didn't seem bothered by people. It wandered westward and we continued to see it off and on as we hiked toward Panorama Point. The older man informed us of his age (73) and the fact that he had arthroscopic knee surgery about 3 weeks ago. This was his first hike since and he seemed to do really well. We took the lower trail across a snowfield to Panorama Point. Best to have an ice axe or trekking poles if you choose this shortcut trail. Took lunch at the point and enjoyed the great views. We again saw the bear far below. After lunch I bid my new friends goodbye and continued on the Skyline trail back to Paradise parking lot. Looks like the new visitor center is nearing completion. It will be sad to see the old 60's era spaceship building go, I have a certain fondness for it, but that's progress. Will return to do Reflection Lakes loop when I have more time.

~ Some friends and I headed up to Mt Rainier on Monday. Initially, I had hoped to head up Mazama Ridge from Narada Falls to Paradise and then head up to Glacier Vista. The road did finally open yesterday (has been closed due to avalanches since Feb 5th) but the ridge route was too dangerous to attempt. We decided against the backup plan of a slog up the Nisqually River from the falls (avoiding the avalanche zone) because no one’s been there and the knee deep slog would have worn us down. So we drove straight up to Paradise and headed straight up the mountain (on the safest route due to the “considerable” avalanche danger) to Glacier Vista. (the safe route.) The mountain was gorgeous even from the parking lot It was a challenging climb up to the vista; the snow was deep and crusty. Panorama Point teased us and lured several others up its avalanche slope, but we chose to be cautious and smart. We also chose to get the heck off of the mountain well before 3:00 PM when the rangers said that the snow conditions would become dangerous. We headed down a little after noon. (call me overly cautious, but I want to live to snowshoe another day) I did have all my avalanche gear (and gave “the talk”) even though we stayed in a safe area. It was pretty funny, when I tested the “search” mode in the parking lot, I discovered another avalanche beacon 7.1 meters away from us. The sky was an amazing blue (the kind I used to remember in the SE Utah Desert and in Colorado) and it was a day where we stopped every few feet (and not even because we were sucking wind) to say, “WOW, this is our back yard! We LIVE here!” It was an awesome day and I’m tired. I’m pretty happy to have had three days of snowshoeing and one day of biking riding in four days off. I need to go back to work to rest. We finished up the trip with Mexican food and a margarita! The rest of the pictures are available here http://www.wildcelticrose.net/lisasplace/Paradisesnowshoe0208.html ~L

One of my buddies has been wanting to do an overnight snowshoe trip with me for awhile now. He does some hiking in the summer and loves the outdoors, but I think after this trip he will think twice about going with me. We decided to head up to paradise and hike in about a mile or so and find a good safe place to set up camp. I do a lot of hiking up here and new of a good spot. We set up at the base of the steep section that takes you to the top of Alta Vista.(off to the side and out of avalanche zones of course)I knew the storm was coming in and we would get a lot of snow but I did not expect it to be the most physically demanding thing I have ever done. I have climbed Rainier twice and lots of other mountains but nothing compared to this 1.4 mile hike down from camp to the upper parking lot at Paradise. We had the gear to stay another night but knowing we were only 1.4 miles away kept us from setting up shelter and staying. Plus we did not want to be on the news as 2 missing hikers found 1/2 mile from their car. GPS stats: from truck to camp on Saturday = 1.5 miles in 1 hour 36 minutes camp to upper parking lot Sunday = 1.4 miles in 8 hours 20 minutes I know some of you might be laughing but believe me, you wouldn't be if you had been there. No matter what kind of shape you are in. To make matters worse they did not even open the road on Sunday so we didn't get any relief from others breaking trail. Besides the hike out it was a great trip. I love the snow and being out in storms but I will think twice about heading out for an overnighter when I know a storm like that is expected. With every step we would sink to at least our hips and sometimes up to our chest with snowshoes on. Some of my muscles are still recovering and it is Friday. Oh well, we made it back safe and have a good story to talk about.

We showshoed up from Paradise more-or-less to Glacier View on Park-Reopening day, (mostly) in the fog. All the trees were beautifully flocked from the Friday and Friday night snow showers, which left 6"" or more fresh white stuff (roads were fine). Although some folks were ascending far above Paradise by postholing, they were also leaving quite a number of deepish holes. Snowshoes or skis seemed to be a wise idea. No bare spots in the snow around Paradise, and little evidence that there will be any in the next week or two. Parking in the upper lot is very limited due to construction. We briefly poked around Narada Falls on the way down. A few bare spots appeared to be emerging at that lower elevation. The Park Service has started plowing the Stevens Canyon Road (and quite a few folks seemed to be walking along it above Narada). The wands which, during a ""normal"" winter, mark the route from Narada to Reflection Lakes along the summertime trail (and lead you to the lower start point for the Mazama Ridge route) were not installed, so people snowshoeing or skiing that route will have to do their own navigation (as well as traversing the plowed road).

Cowlitz Rocks (7450ft), Mt. Rainier area - 4/9/2005 Charlie, John, Oli, Jo, Claes and I headed out for an early spring snow shoe outing to Cowlitz Rocks (actual out/back route in red on JPG map). We experienced all types of weather on this very picturesque and enjoyable outing. Drive: To Paradise parking lot in Mt. Rainier National Park. Our route led down the road beyond Paradise parking lot. The road has now been plowed up the mountain to within 200 - 300 feet of the Paradise parking lot. You can clearly see the ""old"" snow (about 3 ft) with the ""new"" 3 ft layer of snow on top. We shoveled a staircase up the 5 ft deep snowbank just prior to the Paradise River crossing and headed due east to Mazama Ridge. Once on the ridge, head NE to the head of the Stevens Creek cirque, then north passing point 6252 on your right, then past point 6766 on your right and then NNE to Cowlitz Rocks, staying between the Paradise and Williwakas glaciers. The scenery from Mazama Ridge to Cowlitz Rocks is pretty incredible right now. Huge untracked snow bowls fall away on your right leading down to the steep dropoffs into Stevens Canyon and rise to your left up the east flank of Mazama Ridge. Defining the skyline on your left is the summit mound of Rainier and the various cleavers on the SE side of the mountain. Rising straight ahead are the craggy rocks of Little Tahoma Peak with the ice tumble of the Ingraham glacier at its base. The final climb up to Cowlitz Rocks summit is a steep walkup. However, and this applies to many points along this route, the summit and ridge cornices are VERY pronounced , and the climbing ranger warned us that they are unconsolidated and likely to break off even further back than they normally would. The cornice on top of Cowlitz is very large, and it's a good 200 - 300 ft drop off the back onto a steep snow field. Good way to lose 500 ft of altitude quickly. We stayed well back from the cornice. We had lunch on top of Cowlitz rocks and watched the weather turn from warm sunshine to a windy, cloudy, snowy day. The weather change took about 15 minutes. I went from my two light top layers and nylon pants / longies to wearing nearly everything in my pack in that 15 minute transition. I was one fleece layer and a balaclava away from having all my packed gear on my body. Visibility went from 20 miles to 50 feet in that same time period. The other thing we noticed - the cornice ridge on Cowlitz that was so clearly visible on our ascent was literally undetectable after the weather came it. We knew right where it was, were looking right at it, and could NOT see it from 15 feet away! Packing up we headed down into the relative shelter of the Stevens Creek valley to retrace our ascent - being careful to maintain visual contact among the members of the party. The visibility increased as we descended, and when we got back to the car we were treated to re-emergence of sunshine and the play of sun and cloud shadow on the new snow covering the Tatoosh Range. Spectacular. We left the car at 9:00, made the summit of Cowlitz Rocks at noon and returned to the car at 3:00. Total miles - about 7. Total elevation gain - about 2000 ft.