Skip, Core, and the two quadrupeds Max and Sasha and I headed up to see what Parke Butte looks like. I almost got Skip and the quadrupeds there last fall, but Skip is always magnetically drawn toward mountaineering objectives even when not planning to mountaineer, so we ended up climbing the Railroad Grade that time. This time the heat helped me convince him that the reported tarns on Park Butte were worthy of our inspection. The trail went w/o problems, except for a bit of doggy outward bound crossing the swollen runnoff from the Easton Glacier. Max did not like the log or the suspension bridge, and it took a bit of convincing to get him to cross at the more fordable areas. But cross he did and up we went. We were all getting a bit hot by the time we reached the bench with the tarns, so we decided to take a break at one of them. After properly lounging and dowsing, we headed up to the lookout, which had great views on Sunday. Sasha the super dog was freaked by the exposure from the walkway around the outside of the lookout - an uncharacteristic show of fear and vulnerability for her. We stopped at a different tarn on the way down and again dowsed and lounged some more, enjoying the views and the sense of no need to rush anywhere. One the return crossing of the creeks, I had to ford with Max at the log crossing to convince him to go, but I managed to get him across the suspension bridge between my legs (a 100 pound dog - was mildly exciting as he tried to bolt) and so with that the quadrupeds managed to confront their fears on this fine day and the humans managed to have a fairly relaxing outing, except for a few moments of wondering if we'd ever get Max across the creek.

Having hiked in this state for over 40 years, I am still amazed at the plethora of trails in our state that provide unbelieveable mountain experiences-some of which I really didn't know were there. My family, including a 10 y.o and 13 y.o,started on the trail at 19:00 Friday night and arrived at the upper Morovitz Meadow (2.5 miles) by 20:15. There was only one other camper at the meadow. Water source is good, although I would not use the stagnant, mosquitoe-ridden pond, but drop a few feet to the running snow melt below. The view from the meadow is spectacular of Baker, and the sunset turned the summit orange, then pink, and purple. The bugs were bad on a windless night! The next day we hiked the Railroad Grade to the very end of the moraine. The views of glacier, 20-story high chunks of ice, and summit views are breathtaking. The grade is slowly eroding and in a couple spots is less than one foot wide. The east drop-off is about 500 feet straight down. Luckily for my 10 y.o. the west dropoff is a gentle 20% slope to the meadow. The hike provides it all: exposed hiking, peak views, minor rock climbing, waterfalls, and meadows. The rocks are sulphur-ridden and contain large anounts of orange iron ore. The hardest thing was to keep my kids off the glacier. With caution at the top (about 6800 feet asl), I took them to the edge of a few cravases, and looked down in. The sight is mind-boggling-looking at the wind and melting sculpture of the Emmons glacier. It actually reminded me of a white version of Arches Natural Park in Utah. The mountain was steaming! 50-foot plumes were consitantly coming form this active volcanoe adding to the mystery and experience. My kids were ready for the summit, which from here looks like a 20-minute walk away with deceivingly gentle slopes. (It actually is about 2 miles with 4,000 feet elevation gain ending with a 30 % pitch to the summit).We did, however, walk the snow field up about 500 feet elevation gain(7400 feet asl), until I felt uncomfortable with them without iceaxe. We all swore to come back and summit and walked the snowfield down to high camp. The spectacular nature of the trek is buffeted by the highway nature of the trail on the Saturday. My complaints include: 1) Folks who do not yield to uphill traffic; 2)hikers eroding the trail by going off the way; 3)dogs on the trail--I am sorry but please, please, unless you are sight-challlenged-LEAVE YOUR PETS AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!; 4)People destroying the meadow by using closed trails, closed because the meadow has obviously been trashed in the past. The folks using the meadow are avoiding the exposure above. The USFS needs to police this area and post Trail Closed signs at highcamp (they are at the lower meadow); 4) Unfortunately this area is too accessible. It would be nice if it took a 10-mile hike to get there. ROCKMAN

Road with many pot holes is open to the parking area. Lots of snow on trail. Trail completely covered with snow at end of Schrieber’s Meadows (watch for blazes on the way back - there is a track in the snow that goes off to the left and gets on the wrong side of a stream.) The main stream is easily crossed above the old bridge abutment. The trail begins climbing after crossing two small streams - one on a “bridge” of small logs. The trail again goes completely under the snow before the end of the switch backs but the going is easy from this point on over the snow. At least two camp sites along the ridge are free of snow.

Able to drive within 1/4 mile of trailhead due to a little remaining snow on road. Unsuccessful trip to Park Butte. Weather sunny and very warm. Bridges not in place yet and snow bridges very thin or melted out. Punching through snow in many places. Stayed to the east side of the morain and worked my way up into the high country directly across from the railroad grade for some nice spring skiing.

Who could sit still and overeat at home with weather like this! Decided to spend a couple of nights in conditions that felt more like June. During the ascent I could feel the transition from cold to warm due to the temperature inversion. Temps ranged from 8 to 12 degrees C, shorts, sunblock, and t-shirt during the day. About a foot of snow at 5400' but bare patches in places. Snowshoes were helpful for both the soft snow on the south facing slopes and the frozen north faces. A trio from Portland shared their turkey feast on Thanksgiving, splendid company. Look for bright Venus and Mars in the morning sky.