February 4, 2007, Paradise Area
2/4/07
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2547
1
Through a stroke of pure dumb luck I was at (and in) Paradise on Super Bowl Sunday. We were a group of four led by one of the Rangers. Our trip up to Paradise included several stops to inspect the damage from the mid-November rains and floods. It is really bad and we should all join in to support the efforts of the Park, the SCA and the WTA to rebuild the trails and bridges when they melt out.
The snow coverage is great. One could ski to the Nisqually Bridge. There was 10' on the snow stake at Paradise.
We pulled into the upper parking and were vehicles number one and two. Paradise is damn nice when it is ones private park. No gapers, saucering kids or free running doggies. We were the only people we saw. The only other creatures moving were ravens.
We skinned up past Alta Vista to the base of Pan Point and saw only one set of well covered tracks as evidence that someone else had been out. The sun was bright even through some high mixed clouds and was warming the top few inches to buttercream. St. Helens had a lazy steam or dust plume drifting above the rim and Adams was sporting a lenticular stack. Rainier had a stack of flapjacks to the SE of the peak. The summit was mostly in the clouds during the day.
After a quick snack and skin removal break, we traversed Edith Creek basin. First tracks! Then we yo-yoed on a slope into the Paradise River valley. By 3:00 pm it was 52 degrees and the buttercream had changed to something more like Hawaiian Shave Ice (I must be hungry). We could hear rock or ice fall clanging and bonging down the mountain. Sluiskan Falls was running strong. The breeze would occasionally carry the sound over to us.
We could see only one set of covered snowshoe tracks ascending and descending Mazama Ridge across the valley. The Ranger said they were another Ranger's from a couple of week ago.
We got to the road at Fourth Crossing and skinned back up to the parking lot. Two went to the trucks. Three of us skied the trail down to the Narada parking lot were we were met by the trucks.
The trip back down gave us a few more stops for damage inspection.
Note: I have modified on Feb 10 to post photos
The snow coverage is great. One could ski to the Nisqually Bridge. There was 10' on the snow stake at Paradise.
We pulled into the upper parking and were vehicles number one and two. Paradise is damn nice when it is ones private park. No gapers, saucering kids or free running doggies. We were the only people we saw. The only other creatures moving were ravens.
We skinned up past Alta Vista to the base of Pan Point and saw only one set of well covered tracks as evidence that someone else had been out. The sun was bright even through some high mixed clouds and was warming the top few inches to buttercream. St. Helens had a lazy steam or dust plume drifting above the rim and Adams was sporting a lenticular stack. Rainier had a stack of flapjacks to the SE of the peak. The summit was mostly in the clouds during the day.
After a quick snack and skin removal break, we traversed Edith Creek basin. First tracks! Then we yo-yoed on a slope into the Paradise River valley. By 3:00 pm it was 52 degrees and the buttercream had changed to something more like Hawaiian Shave Ice (I must be hungry). We could hear rock or ice fall clanging and bonging down the mountain. Sluiskan Falls was running strong. The breeze would occasionally carry the sound over to us.
We could see only one set of covered snowshoe tracks ascending and descending Mazama Ridge across the valley. The Ranger said they were another Ranger's from a couple of week ago.
We got to the road at Fourth Crossing and skinned back up to the parking lot. Two went to the trucks. Three of us skied the trail down to the Narada parking lot were we were met by the trucks.
The trip back down gave us a few more stops for damage inspection.
Note: I have modified on Feb 10 to post photos
cool! i've been wondering what it would be like to head up to paradise now, and have the whole thing to yourself...way to enjoy it! :)
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