October 17, 2004, Paradise Glacier
10/17/04
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2996
4
Paradise, indeed! Lara P., Matthew, Eli, Dave M., Chuck R. and myself drove around a set of cones at 8 AM Sunday morning to get to the 4th Crossing Trailhead. No "Road Closed" sign anywhere to be seen, and the previous day's website report stated "No road closures except for the West Road below Nisqually." We were greeted with the wetter portion of a 3500 ft. snow level; somebody forgot to turn down the thermostat. An uneventful climb to the Paradise Gl. moraine, with hopes of a 1000 ft. run, or a few yo-yo laps on the face. But, after 2 hours hiking in a wet rain/snow/wind mix, the best we could find was a 200 vert strip of unbroken ice, covered with 8 inches of mush! We walked up as far as we could w/o stepping into the nearest crevasse and pointed them down! Yeehaw; I celebrated 84 months (7 years) of my streak with about 12 awkward turns, wondering whehther that scraping sound was rock or ice. We next headed out toward the "Stash", which appeared very skiable. Being the birthday boy, the group let me take first turns, all 2 of them. As my second turn released a sizable slab, and I didn't stop for about 6 feet, I deduced that the fresh snow was definitely NOT cohered to the sheer neve underneath. Being that only 1 or 2 of us brought crampons, and didn't feel like trying to slip and slide back out of the basin, we pointed our chilly selves back to the cars. Upon arrival, there was a written warning from the Rangers for entering a "Closed" area (See beginning of post). The MORA people have apparently closed the section of road leading to the eastside "early, because we're understaffed and underfunded. We just can't keep an eye on things, and besides, winters just around the corner." The next time you head up that way, perhaps you might consider paying a pro-rated entrance fee, and explain that you are "underfunded", and besides, you're only going to use 1 trail, not the whole park, which is what the fee says you can access!
Anyway, though the skiing was sketchy, the company was GREAT! Welcome aboard, Chuck!
Anyway, though the skiing was sketchy, the company was GREAT! Welcome aboard, Chuck!
Nice report, Greg.
Too bad the snow wasn't a little better but it sounds like you made the best of the company and the conditions. In my book, that's what it's really all about ;)
Maybe soon, we'll have some REAL snow, eh.
Too bad the snow wasn't a little better but it sounds like you made the best of the company and the conditions. In my book, that's what it's really all about ;)
Maybe soon, we'll have some REAL snow, eh.
I went up with some friends on Saturday and we decided to bail. Report at 5:30am said snow level at 7,000ft. 4 hours later park ranger said they received sudden warmer temps pushing the freezing level to 12,000ft. We tried to convince each other that the rain would die down and visibility would let up but it did not. After 30 minutes or so the rain only picked up with the wind. Bummer. Hey Greg at least you had a line or 2. My best or should I say only line was the one I stood in at the Lions for my chili dog. ;D
Well, what can I say, but thank goodness we had already done our October ski, in great weather and new snow just a week ago. But......we still went out this past Sunday, not like everyone else. Since the weather forecast was for terrible weather, we did another recon hike and found even more "secret" stuff ;D One thing we can share is the beautiful scenery along 410 over Chinook Pass and the caving we did at Boulder Cave just off the main highway and an easy hike in. It's really quite interesting, and scarey too!! :D Headlamps are a really great idea, it gets really dark in there until you finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case, the cave. ;D If your lucky you might even be able to see some bats in there, since that's their wintering grounds, and of course, don't forget Halloween is just around the corner. :D (the cave will remain open until Nov 1st and then re-opens sometime in the spring)
You can see a few photos here
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/_albumlist.msnw?pgmarket=en-us
You can see a few photos here
http://groups.msn.com/WildHeartsSkiing/_albumlist.msnw?pgmarket=en-us
I agree...Sunday was all about great company and definitely not-so-great skiing! Congrats on Greg's seven years straight. There will be many more days to come. Now I'm looking forward to some winter touring!!!
~Lara P.
~Lara P.
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