Snow camping with Ian

Last night was a big night for Ian and me; it was Ian's first night snow camping!

The last time I went snow camping at Mt. Rainier, the snow was bulletproof. What a difference a month of (what seems like non-stop) snow made up there. Based off of what the Park Ranger told us when we registered, we chose a place I hadn't been before. He was spot on, and aside from a visit from a fox in the middle of the night (we saw it's prints the next morning), we had the place to ourselves.

There were no views of the Tatoosh Mountains, which turned out to be okay since clouds rolled in and stayed thick until well after 9am the next morning. We did, however, have an excellent view of Mt. Rainier playing peak-a-boo with the clouds.

We both slept reasonably warm, but woke up early. That gave us some time to lazily enjoy some coffee and hot cocoa, which helped to warm us up a bit, too.

We were 15 minutes from the parking lot, making the trip in and out relatively short. It also meant that once we realized that we had forgotten Ian's book in the car, that it was no problem to walk back to get it once we had our camp set up. We were also super close to the sled hill. Because we had spent the night up there, we had the hill to ourselves (priceless). I doubt you'll find a sledding hill anywhere near as awesome as this one!

And since I've been playing around with video recently, enjoy one of Ian's trips down the mountain.

Have a great day everybody!

Marc

What a difference a year can make

I was finishing up some editing of the photos I took this past weekend. I knew I was headed for roughly the same spot I took from a couple of summers ago.

While they aren't identical, it is pretty close. I was a bit higher up on the ridge for this shot.

It really made me think what a difference a year (or half to be precise) can make.

Enjoy,

Marc

Winter camping fun

The weather here has been strangely dry. But when that happens on a weekend, with no rain (or snow in the mountains) in sight, I decided to make a quick dash to Mt. Rainier for some winter camping fun!

A HUGE thank you to Catherine for watching the kids!

After the mad parking lot nonsense (it took about 30 minutes of driving around before I lucked out and saw someone leaving), it was about a 90 minute hike up to Mazama Ridge. I picked a nice spot with nice views to the north of Mt. Rainier and to the south of the Tatoosh mountains. Sunset pretty much fizzled, without much excitement or color in the sky, but it was still very pretty.

Who says I can't pick a nice campsite?

Shortly after setting up my tent I got to watch a small avalanche way up on the flanks of Mt. Rainier. It was a long way off, so I wasn't in any danger. Plus I wasn't hiking/camping in an avalanche zone. I woke up pretty early, and since the stars were just amazing, I decided to snap some photos.

After a short nap, the sun came out and again, the sunrise fizzled without any great color. But like the sunset, it was still very pretty (just not photogenic).

Catherine surprised me when I got home with some books to read to help prepare me for my upcoming school year - so all in all it was a pretty good weekend for me. Hopefully it was nice for everyone, too.

Cheers,

Marc

Wildflowers at Mt. Rainier National Park

I had heard that the wildflowers were finally at peak season, so I packed up the kids to do some camping and wildflower hunting. We tried the northeast corner of the park, so basically as far from home as humanly possible. It is quite the trek to get there, but ultimately well worth it. We scored a nice campsite at White River, after passing another site that was completely full. We grabbed the first available free site that we found, set up our tents, and then went about exploring the area.

First we headed to Tipsoo Lake on the far eastern edge of the park. We had a nice hike around the lake, which was basically a scouting hike for the following morning. It was fairly cloudy over by Rainier, but sunny where we were. After that we made our way to Sunrise, the highest point by road in the park. The kids did their Junior Ranger stuff, and along the way we hiked about a mile out to Shadow Lake. The northwest corner of the lake was covered in wildflowers, which made the place look and smell wonderful. I had to get a shot of the kids along the trail.

I had originally meant to spend sunset at Sunrise (don't get me started), but clouds were moving in and actually forming overhead, so I figured the odds of a pretty sunset were low. So down the mountain we drove so I could make dinner. There was a bit of firewood left over at our site from the previous occupants, so Ian, Leah, and I set up our chairs around the fire and watched some Ranger TV. The kids loved it!

Next morning we were up early so I could go shoot some photos at Tipsoo Lake. I figured there would be a couple of other hardy souls up that early, but I was not prepared for the horde of photographers that were up there! I still had a nice time, and the kids relaxed in the car while I traipsed along the trails through the meadows looking for some nice compositions. The weather cooperated with clear skies, meaning excellent views of Yakima Peak and Mt. Rainier in the distance.

From there we drove to Paradise and checked out the flowers there. I had a nice time, but the kids weren't enjoying the uphill walks at elevation. I cut the trip short by a bit and we made our way home. Almost everything is washed and put away back in its place. It was a nice trip, but as always it is nice to come home. Cheers,

Marc

The Cliffs of Iansanity!!

If you've seen The Princess Bride, then you know what my little play on words is all about. If not...go watch the movie.

This weekend was Ian's very first true backpacking expedition! We headed to the northwest corner of Mt. Rainier National Park and biked/hiked up the Carbon River to our campsite at Ipsut Creek.

This campsite was deliberately chosen because of the 5 mile bike ride in, rather than a hike. The uphill ride there really wasn't too bad, the downhill ride on the way was awesome!

You can see the road we followed to the campsite in the photo of Ian, above. The road is closed to automobile traffic due to multiple washouts along the way. The river is a glacial braided river, and as such tends to reclaim portions of the river valley to include the (former) roadway. Landslides and river washouts push big rocks into the roadway in places, forcing us to walk from time to time. But all in all this was a pleasant ride to and from the campsite, five miles upriver from the car.

We got to the campground and set up our tents. It was a nice break from the weight of the backpacks, which Ian really enjoyed by running around and exploring. There were a bunch of bicyclist/campers here, it seems like a pretty popular place to do that sort of thing. Even so, the campground was nowhere near full. It felt like we practically had the place to ourselves.

Ian and I then started our hike up the trail towards Carbon Glacier. Its terminus is the lowest in the US, only 3.5 miles away. A little more than halfway there Ian and I encountered a black bear having his/her dinner on the trail. A couple came up behind us. The bear knew we were there, but didn't make any real move for a minute or two, then looked like he was going to come our way. Another couple approached the bear from the other direction on the trail which pushed the bear towards us. At that time, both me and one of the other people on our side of the trail pulled out our bear spray and slowly started walking back up the way we had come. After about ten minutes, the people from the other side came through and said the bear had moved about 20 feet off the trail. Ian's feet were sore and he wanted to go back to the campsite for dinner, which we did. So we missed the glacier, but we got to see a bear. Fair trade, I'd say.

We both went to sleep shortly after dinner and slept pretty well. We checked out a waterfall nearby camp (near the photo of the two of us "holding" up that tree) and then came back to pick up our bikes. The ride down was very quick. We stopped only to take in another short hike to see the falls above (Chenuis Falls), and then made our way back home. 

We were blessed with beautiful weather Saturday, and only very light rain on the way out today. This was a great first backpacking trip for Ian! Hopefully he is hooked and will be my backpacking buddy for quite some time to come. Happy summer,

Marc

Winter Camping at Mt. Rainier

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

Happy New Year!

Catherine's mother, Nancy, is here for a visit. She kindly agreed for a snowshoe trip at Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park. They've had more snow since last weekend, with more than 130 inches of snow still on the ground this season.

So we packed up the car and made the trip to Mt. Rainier. The roads were a bit worse than last week, but with blue skies and sun-drenched snow-covered mountains we couldn't pass it up. We haven't seen the sun in quite some time, so it was nice to get a very big dose of sunshine.

We passed several tents and abandoned campsites on our little trek, which has me really thinking...

We stayed long enough to catch a beautiful sunset, and then made the drive back down the mountain. No avalanches, no frostbite - all safe and sound!

I'm thinking of taking Ian back up there tomorrow for some more fun in the snow. I won't be able to publish another blog before the New Years, so I'll make this my official Happy New Years wish. Have fun everybody, and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Marc

Sledding Trip to Mt. Rainier

For the past two days I've made the trip up to Paradise at Mt. Rainier for some winter fun. I took both Ian and Leah Saturday, and only Ian decided to come with me Sunday. Leah got a bit too cold Saturday, and she had no desire to revisit that experience. Saturday we did a bit of snowshoeing, and then the kids went sledding. While we have absolutely no snow here, they've had a boatload of snow so far this year at Mt. Rainier. There was just over 10 feet of snow sitting on the ground, according to the Park, compared to just over five feet this time last year. 

The Park works overtime to keep the road from Longmire to Paradise open with all that snow. I bought some tire chains that make the portion above Longmire a snap, though the height of the snow as you get closer to Paradise just towers over the car - easily 10 feet, if not more in places.

Both kids enjoyed the snowshoeing, but they were both most eager to go sledding. I walked them up the little hill and then ran back down to get their videos. The walkway was pretty well packed, but the walls built up to contain the sleds were not. I postholed up to my hip on one step! Luckily I was able to dig myself out in time for Leah to go zinging by.

Then it was Ian's turn. As usual, he didn't want to give it a go at first. But then it was like pulling teeth to get him off that mountain! I'm glad they both had fun, though.

After sledding, I thought we'd go for a short walk. Both kids agreed, but by the time we had left the parking lot the wind had picked up and Leah was complaining about being cold. So that walk wasn't very far.

Then today, since the one day snowshoe rental is actually 2.5 days in length AND I had the time, Ian and I went back to Mt. Rainier to do some more snowshoeing. We had a very nice time once again at Paradise.

It was as close to a perfect winter wonderland as I think I'll ever find.

Marc

Winter fun at Mt. Rainier National Park

I don't know why I haven't made the effort to get to Mt. Rainier in the winter before, but I'll definitely be spending some time their this winter! I dragged the kids along for the fun. The plan was to drive to Longmire in the southwest corner of the park and then put on the tire chains for the drive to Paradise. Someone had had an accident so the road was closed to up-going traffic. We made the best of the situation though, and walked around the Longmire area.

To be clear, we haven't seen any snow where we live this year. We've been struggling into the upper 40's/low 50's for our highs. But the mountains have had over three feet of snow this past week, on top of all of the snow they had in October and November. So the time was right.

We packed all sorts of warm gear, to including a couple of thermoses of hot chocolate, into the car and made the drive to Mt. Rainier National Park. Once we got closer to the mountains, we could see snow covering the trees up at elevation. There was snow on the ground just a mile or two outside the park gates. By the time we made the drive up to Longmire there was a fair bit of snow standing on the ground.

Ian and Leah were most interested in a snowball fight. I caught the precise moment that Leah got Ian right in the head. Don't worry, it was a total fluke and Ian wasn't hurt in the slightest. In fact he belly laughed!

We walked the "Trail of the Shadows". Snowshoes weren't necessary, as many people had walked the path and we had very firm snow. Just a bit off the trail though and I would posthole a good bit.

I didn't realize there were thermal features at Mt. Rainier National Park. There was a pond of sorts that the trail wandered around with many small bubbling springs. Very pretty streams emptied into it, and there was a cabin at the far end.

When we got back to the parking lot the traffic accident still had not been cleared, so the kids wanted to have another snowball fight. That was pretty much the highlight of their day, the multiple snowball fights. Here I caught Ian getting Leah.

The accident was finally cleared a little after 3 pm, so we took off up the mountain. Even with tire chains we didn't make it up before it started to get dark. We had planned on sledding at Paradise, but it didn't work out this time.

There is always another week though. We'll try again in a couple of weeks. Have a wonderful day everybody!

Marc

Labor Day Weekend Fun!

I'd seen some photos of Mt. Rainier and the wildflower bloom that made me want have to go there. So I packed up Catherine and the kids and we drove to Paradise, which is aptly named at this time of year. There are a boatload of trails around the Paradise Visitor Center, but we chose the Deadhorse Creek Trail to the Skyline Trail.

The sights and the scents were sublime! There was more color here than what I had experienced at the Hurricane Ridge area of the Olympic National Park, but that was because I went before the peak of color. We (that's the royal "We") decided to hike up to the Panoramic Point from Paradise. It gained a lot more vertical than I had anticipated, but everyone hiked like a champ.

The trail got quite steep at a couple of points, with sheer drop offs to one side. This guy, below, was climbing up to his girlfriend. The photo was taken at one of those steep-trail points. It looks a lot worse than it actually was, but had he fallen it would have really ruined his day.

We eventually made it to Panoramic Point, but the Skyline Trail we were following had a sign warning of ice and steep trail conditions. So we had to climb some more to the High Skyline Trail to avoid the snow field. The photo below is from us finally starting our descent, however that wall of snow is not the snowfield we were avoiding.

We saw some folks sliding on their bottoms since our trail overlooked the Skyline Trail. It would have been fun, but just for me. The high trail eventually met up with the low trail, but the going was still fairly steep. Below you can see the kids with the Tatoosh Mountains in the immediate distance and Mt. Adams in the far distance.

At one point, I took a different trail so I could go see the wildflower show on Mazama Ridge, which added a solid 3-4 miles to my trip. Since everyone was good and tired, it was a good choice to separate here. The photo below is one of my favorites from Mazama Ridge looking south towards the Tatoosh Mountains. Since the Skyline Trail was soooooo crowded, this trail was awesome. Once I turned off, I literally never saw another human until a quarter mile from the parking lot. That was nice, except for when I encountered a bear. Luckily, I scared that one off too!

Not far from the photo above, I turned around and took this photo of Mt. Rainier with a bunch of wildflowers in the foreground.

All in all, it was a long but glorious day. Not a bad way to put summer to bed! Enjoy your Labor Day everyone, we are. Cheers,

Marc