Elevation Gain: 2000 feet
Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Weather: Sunny, cool, and windy.
Last week I was up at Paradise. We had some great times, but not the greatest weather. I mentioned my previous 2 Januarys with incredible weather days. Well, I guess last week was a week early. Today was the amazing weather day up at Paradise. A senior at my school Fritz, who I taught as a freshman and as a junior, asked if we could go on a hike over winter break. I said yes, but forgot when I agreed to go with teachers last week. He was generous enough to not mind, and he agreed that this weekend would be fine. It was the better weather, and we had an amazing day.
Fritz is a great guy, and he has an amazing mom. It is one of those families that I love, and one that has gotten to know me and knows where my priorities fall. Despite being human, some people have some insane demands of teachers. I always appreciate the families that allow me to be myself. Fritz was always a student I could rely on, and we always had a great relationship. He and I have never hiked together though. As a matter of fact, I never really asked him directly to join me. I knew he was a fisherman, but I never knew his passion for catching good views with his camera. I borrowed a pair of snowshoes from a friend and asked if he wanted to go to Rainier or to the Olympics. He opted for Rainier, and I am so glad he did.
We met up at 7:15, and we were up at paradise by 9:45 am. We had to chain up at Longmire, but my old Subaru made the journey just fine. I had not packed my pack in the morning, I just simply threw all the gear into a Rubbermaid® container. By the time I was packed and geared up, it was 10 am. It was in gearing up that I noticed I left my camera at home. Fritz suggested my cell phone in airplane mode would have to suffice. We took off up to Panorama Point. We had such sunny weather we were both rocking sunglasses. I had my glacier goggles on which always make me feel like a badass. We climbed at a decent pace up some pretty steep slopes stopping occasionally to catch our breath, both from the snowshoeing and the breath-taking views. We snapped quite a few photos and kept remarking about the exceptional day ahead of us. After a good two hours of climbing, we had come to a rock cairn and no one else was around. We soaked in the views to the south. The Tatoosh Range, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and even Mt. Hood were all shining in the bright January sun. This is always one of my favorite views.
We drank hot chocolate and hot cider, then we decided to go down to Mazama Ridge and catch the Fourth Crossings Trail down to the road. We then took the road back to the parking lot. The snow was an exceptionally dry powder for Washington. It was fluffy and dry. I could not get over how wonderful the conditions were. We glissaded when we could, we stopped for photos, we marveled at the skiers tracks, we enjoyed some meaningful chats, and we were done too soon. We were back at the car by 3ish, and made the journey back to Tacoma in style, stopping for coffee, then for a Mexican food dinner.
Orchid: First hike with a future friend.
Onion: My face got a little too much sun, but it isn't burned. It actually feels good right now.
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