Berkeley Park at Mount Rainier

Dawn and I had a chance to get up to Berkeley Park at Mt. Rainier. Amazing visibility the first day, which dropped to less than sixty feet as we were leaving the second day. More here:

Mt Rainier in April

I took a weekend trip by myself up above Paradise at Mt. Rainier. Beautiful stuff. Tested out the new three season, single wall tent from REI called the Ace SW. Very impressed by it. This is the second time I've had it out, and I only have a few nitpicks. (Even though I've hardly said anything substantial here, full disclosure: I am an employee at REI; any views expressed herein are my own.)

Photos are on my Flickr site.

Summerland and Pan Handle Gap

One of the best hikes of the year, from near the White River campground, past Summerland and up to Pan Handle Gap. Fantastic stuff. Unfortunately I put off many photos of the mountain off until afternoon, and by afternoon clouds had moved in and covered the mountain. Should have known.

Photos on my Flickr site:

Snowshoeing at Mt. Rainier - Castle & Pinnacle

I headed into the Tatoosh, up to the Castle and Pinnacle Peak. Forecast called for scattered snow showers. It should have called for: Snow, with conditions ranging from flurries to full on blizzard, clearing occasionally for momentary glimpses of blue sky.

Trees on Mazama ridge.

On the way up. The light gray blur above the trees on the left is the castle.

The Castle in a moment of clarity. The skiers had fantastic conditions that day.

The Castle (dark on far left), with Pinnacle behind it.

Looking up at Pinnacle.

Looking down on Reflection Lakes. Near the center, about a third of the way down from the top edge is a rectangle that is the new Visitors Center at Paradise.

The trail on the way down from Castle and Pinnacle.

Cool, droopy snow.

Trees between Reflection Lakes and Mazama Ridge.

On the way out the clouds lifted for a bit and revealed some more of the Tatoosh (Eagle?).

Snowshoeing at Mt. Rainier

Opened the spring with a fantastic snowshoe at Rainier. Next time we just need to remember to put the sunscreen on a little earlier!

Snowshoeing at Mt. Rainier

Kim and I got out snowshoeing this weekend at Mt. Rainier. The plan had been to head into a nearby wilderness area, but the forest service roads aren't plowed and so weren't passable. So, quick change of plan, we headed in to the Reflection Lakes area for a quiet and beautiful (if a bit cold) weekend.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the skunk that paid us a visit in the night; kindly leaving a scent on our dishes and a pile on the spot where Kim had poured out her tea after dinner. We made some cocoa in the Jetboil, but (needless to say) didn't use the dishes!

The clouds were simply flying over some of the Tatoosh peaks.

And we even managed to catch a fair amount of sun in the afternoon (much better than the cloudy forecast called for!).

The big mountain was hidden in clouds most of the time, but every once in a while we'd catch a glimpse, like this one from camp.

We set up camp fairly early in a small open space southeast of Reflection Lakes.

The sun was _soooo_ nice!

Look at this! Feet on the dinner table! Can't take this girl anywhere!

Fresh snow at Rainier

I got out a for a bit of hiking on a sunny day at Rainier. Should have brought snowshoes! This photo is from Mazama ridge, not far from Paradise, looking south at the Tatoosh range.

Mt. Rainier June 2007

I was finally able to get Kim onto Rainier above Paradise in June.




It was a _beautiful_ evening to be on the mountain!

Mt. Rainier May 2007

Mt. Rainier is only about 1.5 hrs away from Olympia (Paradise on Rainier is a bit over 2 hrs away) and so I've been fortunate enough to spend several trips hiking on the big mountain. Early in May I had fantastic weather and hiked/snowshoed from Paradise towards Camp Muir. I stopped at about 8,500 ft, but came back a week later with a group from the Mountaineers and climbed all the way to Camp Muir (at 10,188 ft).


Rainier was capped with a particularly cool lenticular cloud as I approached; it blew off later in the day.


The view south from Panorama Point. Mt. Adams is the snowy peak on the left horizon, Mt. St. Helens is the snowy mound on the right horizon. The jagged peaks running from left to right across the midground make up the Tatoosh Range, which I hope to traverse in early August.



Rainier creates its own weather, and watching the clouds blow across is pretty amazing. The clouds in the middle looked remarkably flame-like and disappeared as quickly as they were created.


Not a bad spot for lunch, huh?


Looking up from near my lunch spot. The big rock jutting up on the right side of the photo is Anvil Rock. Follow the snow-horizon down and left from Anvil until it ends and you've about located Camp Muir.


A hole in the snowfield caused by snowmelt running below - overlooking the Tatoosh range and Mt. Adams.


Looking down from Panorama Point. The buildings and parking lot on the mid-left are at Paradise. The broken-up cornice on lower-right was used by my climbing class a week earlier to practice glacier rescue techniques.


A week later I stood at Camp Muir after a 4,700 ft climb from Paradise.