Decided to seek out snow where it is most likely to hide this year. But it is well hidden up high on Mt Rainier. Crossing the bridge over the Nisqually River and looking up there is NO SNOW. The friend I went with skied down to the bridge last March from the Nisqually Chute. Devoid of snow way up the ravine. We decided to head to the location of the former Ice Caves which we knew from past experience are gone but it makes a nice tour with some turns. Concerned about the potential high clouds keeping it too crusty were turned aside by reality. Nice conditions but I'm definitely out of telemark shape so did some kick turns on steeper terrain. Used ski-crampons to get up to the slopes below Pan Point to Golden Gates. The high clouds added to the interesting lighting. The mountain was out in the morning (we hit the Longmire gate at just around 9am but it may have been opened early). A lenticular covered it in the afternoon. GREAT DAY. Mellow temperatures and a bit of a breeze. Looking down from the vicinity of the ""ice caves"" toward Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. (note to editor: the last few times, pressing ""submit report now"" gets a very slow or NO response????)

We skied to the Paradise Glacier via Edith Creek on Sunday. We know snow is on the scarce side, but expected to see more than just a foot or two at that elevation. Amazing.

Hurray for blue skies! Started our excursion from the Paradise parking lot on this absolutely gorgeous sunny February Sunday. Headed down the road beyond Paradise and up to Mazama Ridge, where we took a left and onward to Paradise Glacier. We were both not sure what it would look like when we saw it because of the snowcover, etc. We kept plugging away with the help of our topo and compass (and also following tracks that seemed to know where they were going!) and finally settled on a rocky hilltop for lunch since we were looking forward to a rest and I was certainly starving! (I'd been looking forward to lunch before we left the parking lot!) I was slightly bummed that this huge wall of snow was obstructing our view of Rainier but we still had an awesome view of the Cascade range. After making a point to really study my Paradise area topo map, I realized we had been snowshoeing along side the massive glacier for quite awhile! (That was the huge obstructing wall of snow!) Ok, so we felt a little silly, but we at least got to our destination - and beyond! On our way back, we explored the rolling hills in an attempt to get back via Panorama Point. We were certain we found the way there, but opted to go the rest of the way back the way we originally came because low clouds suddenly encompassed the area but there was more clearing via the lower route. Colder temps came along with the clouds, too. We probably would have been fine, but there was no reason to take any chances on winding up all socked in. We can always go back again to get to Pan Point. It was a good day at Rainier! Great views all the way.