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