Panorama Point 1/1/08 3 miles
Welcome 2008! After my farewell to 2007 hike on the 31st, Michael and I decided to head to Mt Rainier for a New Year snowshoe. A fresh blanket of snow covered the slopes behind Paradise and a sharp wind bit into our faces as we stepped out of the car at the Jackson Visitor Center. I will miss the visitor center once it's torn down later in the year. It doesn't fit the alpine experience, but the 360 degree view sure is nice. We will often swing around after a hike to sit back to relax and thank the mountain for it's pleasurable company that day. The new visitor center just doesn't appear to have anywhere near as wonderful an observatory as the old one does.
But we weren't there to compare and contrast the old and the new. We wanted to start the year off with a good stretch of the legs and warming of muscle, so up the hill we went. The powder was fresh and soft which made it a bit harder to walk through and slowed our progress. At the top of our first rise, I noticed the scenery around me seemed to sparkle even under heavy clouds. Off to the south filtered sunlight broke through to add color to an almost gray sky which also brought drama to the Tatoosh Range. Mt Rainier towered above us, the peak just barely visible in the clouds, bare rock ridges breaking through the snow cover. All around us were snow and ice encrusted trees looking as if they were wearing heavy coats to protect them from the winter chill.
At each rise along the way, I'd stop to admire these three beautiful views, each new angle, each new detail. I smiled at the icicles clinging to branches like Christmas Tree ornaments not yet ready to be boxed up for the season. Wind high on the mountain kicked up loose snow into a cloud around Camp Muir. And always behind us the toothy Tatoosh Range and the yellow/orange tinged clouds above.
Others had the same or similar idea as us this day and we passed a jovial group who cheerfully wish us a Happy New Year before rattling and blowing their noise-makers. Normally a tooting horn would be a disturbance in the wilderness, today it was cause for celebration - where else should a person rejuvenate themselves for a new year? Rattling a maraca seemed perfectly appropriate and matched the screams and laughter of the children sledding lower on the slopes.
We rested for a spell near Panarama Point before deciding it was time to head to the visitor center for a cup of hot chocolate, snow cushioning every footstep. Why can't we find something as soft to walk on in the summer so our knees don't get so banged up? Just as we started down the last hill we were greeted by a wonderful view of the old Jackson Visitor Center as it seemed to rise from the trees.
But we weren't there to compare and contrast the old and the new. We wanted to start the year off with a good stretch of the legs and warming of muscle, so up the hill we went. The powder was fresh and soft which made it a bit harder to walk through and slowed our progress. At the top of our first rise, I noticed the scenery around me seemed to sparkle even under heavy clouds. Off to the south filtered sunlight broke through to add color to an almost gray sky which also brought drama to the Tatoosh Range. Mt Rainier towered above us, the peak just barely visible in the clouds, bare rock ridges breaking through the snow cover. All around us were snow and ice encrusted trees looking as if they were wearing heavy coats to protect them from the winter chill.
At each rise along the way, I'd stop to admire these three beautiful views, each new angle, each new detail. I smiled at the icicles clinging to branches like Christmas Tree ornaments not yet ready to be boxed up for the season. Wind high on the mountain kicked up loose snow into a cloud around Camp Muir. And always behind us the toothy Tatoosh Range and the yellow/orange tinged clouds above.
Others had the same or similar idea as us this day and we passed a jovial group who cheerfully wish us a Happy New Year before rattling and blowing their noise-makers. Normally a tooting horn would be a disturbance in the wilderness, today it was cause for celebration - where else should a person rejuvenate themselves for a new year? Rattling a maraca seemed perfectly appropriate and matched the screams and laughter of the children sledding lower on the slopes.
We rested for a spell near Panarama Point before deciding it was time to head to the visitor center for a cup of hot chocolate, snow cushioning every footstep. Why can't we find something as soft to walk on in the summer so our knees don't get so banged up? Just as we started down the last hill we were greeted by a wonderful view of the old Jackson Visitor Center as it seemed to rise from the trees.
No comments:
Post a Comment