I have the best wife in the world - she stayed home with the kids while I went traipsing about and sleeping in the snow at Mt. Rainier National Park. I totally lucked out on the weather, it snowed (about three feet) at Rainier this past week and then gave us sunshine for Saturday! My campsite was a short 20-30 minute walk from the parking area. They say location is everything, well I think I picked a great spot here.
Along the walk in I came across this great little snow field where no one had walked or skied through (yet). The lines from the melting snow really added some visual interest to the smooth mounds of snow with the tops of the trees breaking through.
After setting up camp a little after lunch, I walked up from the Paradise Valley up to Mazama Ridge. I had about three hours to just wander around up their, looking for where I wanted to photograph sunset. I picked one place, but with another couple of hours to wait, I decided to keep looking. I ultimately picked a hilltop, which I recognized from an earlier trip (next to last photo, the hilltop on the left). I waited a good bit for sunset, but ultimately it was worth it.
This isn't my favorite photo from the trip, just my favorite of the ones not requiring much work in Photoshop.
For those of you that are curious - I don't know why I waited so long to go winter camping! Yes, it was chilly. But according to the thermometer in my watch, my tent interior stayed about 36F. I didn't loose any fingers or toes, no avalanches swept me off the mountain, and no bears awakened from hibernation to eat me as a wintertime snack. I brought plenty of food and warm gear, and I chose a weekend when the weather was great (upper 40's on Mazama in the sun). There were very few bugs (yes, I saw two bugs crawling on the snow, no idea what they were doing) and once the sun started to set, I felt like I had the park to myself. I had a great time, and I can't wait to go again.
Have a wonderful day!
Marc
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