September Laps and Recon Mission

After meeting up at JWs early Saturday morning--okay, not so early--Chris Cass and I meandered our way up to the Rainier playground for some legitimate September turns. (I cheated last week and took the lifts.)
First we needed to secure a backcountry permit for the evening and encountered our Slush Cup babysitter at the Longmire station.  Beaming, I waved hello and he popped his head out of the office only to shake his head in dismay at our intentions, "You can't possibly have plans to ski today?" Uh . . . yeah.  I later overheard him telling other hikers NOT to make mention of any snow encounters as we might try to schlepp our skis up and ski those patches too. ::)
Mindful of the waning daylight hours, we scurried up the trail out of the Paradise lot to sneak a few turns in on the perimeter of one of the famed secret stashes.  ;) We managed to link about 8-10 turns for one run and took a repeat lap just for good measure and the entertainment of numerous onlookers.  Considering the time of day and the salvation of freshies for the Sunday crew--we quickly scooted down the mountain and back to the Longmire parking lot for our own epic outing in true Hummel style. ;D Late (4PM) departure, not quite enough food, *8+ miles to travel, backcountry campsite . . . we're neophytes at this but don't think we did so bad.  (Of course I did endure a broken nail  ::) and a hornet attack. :-[) Indian Henry's was a spectacular destination and our late arrival provided premium lighting for some outstanding alpenglow photography.  In the morning, we took a reconnaissance scramble up Pyramid Peak, then returned to Longmire a little tired, hungry, and sore but all the more mentally refreshed, enthusiastic and eager for the snow to start flying. 8)

I am really lousy with the pictures--so I defer to Chris for visual documentation of the trip.  In the meantime, I have some posted on Picasa for those of you who might be a little impatient. :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/teleskichica/IndianHeaven