Snowshoe to Panorama Point and Myrtle Falls on Mt Rainier

Beautiful day with low avalanche risk, hoped to hike the Skyline Trail at Paradise on Mt Rainier.

 Took the Alta Vista Trail toward Panorama Point

 Snowshoes off and Yak trax on to climb up to Panorama Point

 Fabulous views at Panorama Point

 Then we hiked up to the High Skyline Trail

 From the High Skyline Trail we could see Mt Adams, Mt Hood & Mt St Helens

 Unable to continue across the Skyline Trail because of ice, so we returned the way we came

 Glissading down the steep parts!

 Since there was still lots of daylight, snowshoed over to Glacier Vista,

Then back to Paradise and around the other side 

 to Myrtle Falls.

 Back to the parceling lot in time to watch the moon rise.

Fabulous day out in the snow!

Lakes Loop Snowshoe on Mt Rainier

We decided to head up to Paradise on Mt Rainier for our first snowshoe hike in many years. 

When there is no snow the Lakes hike is a 5 mile loop with about 1400 ft elevation gain overall.

Because there was only a couple of feet of snow and no avalanche danger, 

we were able to follow the summer trail.

There were high clouds covering the peak, but the overall visibility was good.

We had great views of the Tatoosh Range all day.

 The falls look beautiful in the snow.

 Get a good workout climbing up to Mazama Ridge.

 We were able to find the trail signs, even though there was no trail.

 Stopped to eat lunch by one of the small lakes up on Mazama Ridge.

 Overlook of Lake Louise on the way down Mazama Ridge

 The Reflection Lakes were frozen, because of the geothermal activity on Mt Rainier,

the ice is never thick enough to walk on.

 We had several log bridges to cross over the many creeks

 

We snowshoed the entire loop without seeing anyone, we did see wild cat and fox prints in the snow.

Storm clouds came in as we were leaving the park.

Rampart Ridge at Mt Rainier

There was too much snow up at Paradise this weekend for hiking (we hadn't bought snowshoes yet)

so we parked the car at Longmire and headed up the Wonderland Trail toward Rampart Ridge.

 We saw a light dusting of snow early on.

We were able to see a couple of small waterfalls amid the trees.

When we reached the ridge, we headed away from the loop trail

and headed up the Van Trump Park Trail, hoping to extend our time outdoors.

We hiked along the trail for about a mile and maybe an additional 300 ft elevation gain.

 We turned around when the snow became deep enough to obliterate the trail.

We continued down to the Rampart Ridge Trail to complete the loop hike.

Most of the hike was in the woods, but there were a couple of view points.

Looking toward Mt Rainier, mostly covered in clouds.

 On the other side of the ridge, looking down toward Longmire.

It is always a good day, when we can be outside hiking!