Glacier Vista Snowshoe — Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

We headed up to Paradise on a very gray Seattle morning and found abundant sunshine and blue skies. The road was a little icy in places on the way up (arrived at Paradise parking lot a little after 10 a.m.) but just bare and wet on the way down in the afternoon. This was the first snowshoe trip for my friends and I, and it was so much fun! We headed up (northwest from visitor center) around the sledding area following one of several pretty obvious, wanded trails in the general direction of Glacier Vista. Eventually we joined up with part of the Alta Vista trail, then decided to do the very steep uphill to Panorama Point. If you go up to Panorama Pt, your calves will thank you for using snowshoes with a heel lift. The snow cover is deceptive, everything looks closer and less steep than it really is, but the view is worth the effort. The air was so clear we could see all the way to Mt. Hood! And sliding down is a hoot--just be sure to watch out for other snowshoers and skiers headed up. On our way down we passed the crowded sledding area and decided to take a little side trip east on the Skyline trail before returning to the car. The snow was much more crunchy/compact on the trail in this direction... and fortunately not quite as good for making snowballs as one of my friends had hoped. :) If there's sun in the forecast, get on out and play!