August 6, 2011, Mt Rainier, Paradise Glacier Corn

Not having been up to Paradise in a while, I was seriously in awe at how much snow is still up there. I left Seattle around 7, half an hour behind schedule because I stepped barefoot on my ice axe and took a nice junk of skin and meat out  :'(. At first I thought I had to cancel the trip, but after some alcohol (mostly on my foot  ;D), a band aid, duct tape to keep things in place, and a quick lap in boots around the block, I decided the trip was still a €œgo€. Turns out that it hurt like a b***h in tennis shoes, and almost not at all in boots.

I parked beyond the visitor center just after the first ninety degree turn since it gave me access to snow within 10ft of my car 8). Skinned up to Muir via Pan Point and skied the Paradise Glacier. This is the first time I have gone in from below and I was a bit too serious about heading straight north:  hence I  ended up on Pan Point  ???. It seems that going up via the Paradise Glacier would have been faster.
 
I left Muir around 1:30pm after a short brake and some pictures. The first 500ft below Muir are getting a bit sun-cupped. Not completely terrible yet, but starting to be less fun. I headed over to Anvil rock because the slope there looked much better. The snow down from Anvil rock was in excellent condition €“ maybe a tad soft if one wants to be picky. The snow stayed good till the car, only a bit sticky around 6000ft. Maybe heading out an hour earlier would have made it perfect.

Overall still a perfect day out€¦