Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Mt. Rainier Day Hike


Friday brought a day off for both Amy and me. We decided that, having been so darned busy and caught up with stuff in life this year, that we would take a day for us and head up to Mt. Rainier.

It is a place we've found that we love very much. We had a total blast up there on Friday. We took our sweet time hiking from Paradise Visitor's Center (via Dead Horse Creek Trail), up through the High Skyline Trail, and back down through the meadows around to the new Paradise Lodge.

The first time we went up last season, we spent the entire first 2/3 of our hike in cloud cover. I'm not talking about overhead, so much as I am clouds were all over the mountain, with 10 foot visibility!

Amy and I had wanted the same experience sooner, rather than later. Our desires were met with an experience that far exceeded our expectations.

We were greeted by some chilly weather and a mountain blanketed by clouds. Our hike up was incredible. There were water droplets perfectly gathered on leaves, blades of grass, flower petals; we could see far enough to enjoy the immense amount of greenery, yet not far enough to see the distant views from the trails.

The deer were out in full force. They were taking advantage of the dense clouds, half paying attention to the passers by as they munched on grass and flowers together. Some were only 30 feet away!

Marmots.. god I love those little guys. We learned what a Marmot whistle sounds like-- we mistook it for bear whistles. They were rustling around several areas we hiked in. We watched them from 20-50 feet away, eating flower heads and scurrying around (more like fast-waddling I suppose). At one point, we nearly found ourselves in a minor altercation with one that was feeling a little threatened! He took off after giving us a few good sniffs about 4 feet away.

The best part of it all was the show we experienced on our descent. There is an incredible look-out point with a rock bench along the trail. On a clear day you can see Paradise Lodge, an off-center view of the Nisqually Valley, and some incredible mountains off to your left that have snow patches on them year-round.

Since it was cloudy, we saw an amazing show of blowing clouds straight up the cliff side into, through, and over us. The sun popped out in amazing holes of pristine blue sky only to be quickly gobbled up by another cloud. It was intense when we saw a clear view from the vantage point, then watched as clouds miles away blew in low to the ground, through the trees and consumed everything in their path. They climbed the mountain right up to us and blocked our view; moving the cieiling and visibility to about 20 feet!

I posted a few of the pictures on Picasa! I also have a few awesome videos but those will have to be edited and posted later.

Great times!

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