Home > Trip Reports > August 16, 2009, Muir Dirt

August 16, 2009, Muir Dirt

8/16/09
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2854
4
Posted by maryg on 8/20/09 7:32am
Met Andrew and Lisa R. at our Silver Springs cabin first thing Sunday AM.
They had plans to do Slush Cup but we were able to sway them into heading up to Muir. Had to stop by the Reflection Lakes parking lot for a quick hello to Robie, then on up the road. Parking lot at Paradise was getting full and a nice lady from the park said we were welcome to unload our gear there. Gee thanks! So we complied and Andrew drove the van nearly all the way back down to the Stevens Canyon junction for parking! We are one step away from Shuttle only access. Amazingly we didn't feel the need to grumble or gripe which is unusual for this particular crew. The weather was perfect for hiking and the flowers have never been so spectacular. All colors and kinds as thick as can be. Could this be the result of the skiers staying off those fragile meadows? The skiing was not as spectacular as the flowers, but I've had worse on Muir in August. Lots of big cracks everywhere just below camp and very dirty snow the entire route. We almost lost Andrew when all of a sudden he dropped 4 feet and was stuck waist deep in the snowfield. Stay to skiers left (far left below muir) and you will have pleasant turns all the way down then swing skiers right for 2-3 large patches along the waterfall, then climb back up to the trail. HUGE sun cups were actually soft and fun to ski. Lower patches were smooth but dirty. It was a great day to get out so I won't dwell on the parking lot cluster or our collective thumbs down on the visitor center/tourist pit. Great weather, good skiing, relaxing day overall.
Thanks for the report!  The skiing sounds less grim than I would have guessed.

Here's a tip from an old (very old, actually) hand regarding parking at Paradise:  Try the picnic area just below the old VC site.  All day parking is legal there as long as it's in a marked space, which can make the road hiking quite a bit shorter than from the Valley Rd.

If you study the webcam picture ( http://mms.nps.gov/mora/cam/east.jpg ), you'll notice that less than half the main lot is striped for private vehicles!  I realize it's necessary to have space for buses and emergency vehicles, but this seems ridiculous.

My opinion is that this is intentional, in order to build a documented history of gridlock to justify the mass-transit system in the General Management Plan so that top-level managers can pad their resumes for a transfer/promotion to Virgin Islands NP, etc.    ::)


You shouldnaught stopped to say hello to me and you woulda got a better spot. Glad you had a good day and for sure you got in more skiing . Lots of parking at paradise in winter when you all are at Crystal ;-).  Sometimes there' sooo much powder we can't make up our minds which part of paradise to ski !

relaxing? Did I miss something? 
Great day and thanks for the nice post, Mary.
Who'da thought brown snow and giant suncups would be so much fun?

8/23:  Lacking partner for more exotic places, I hiked up to 8900' on the snowfield, to base of steeper slope up to Camp Muir, where the glacial ice, rock,  running water, new water ice and cracks begin in earnest. Picked my way across from climbers right through all that to smoother areas of giant suncups with melt ponds in their bottom, and agree with MaryG that these are fun to ski. About an inch of gritty corn or shave ice snow on harder stuff. Skied to above Pebble Creek for about 1400 VF with two carries. Lower parts were really bumpy and fast, smaller harder suncups. I found it better skiers' right above and more left below. It was foggy from Paradise lot to Pebble Creek, with fog full of tourists and marmots. Full sun and pleasant above. Lots of people asked if I found any snow up there. I was thinking of saying yes, that is why the mountain looks so white from down here, but was nice and tried to just be part of the entertainment. 9:15 start up, 2:45 back at the car.

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august-16-2009-muir-dirt
maryg
2009-08-20 14:32:23