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.

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).