Decided to head up to Mt Rainier National Park to go snowshoeing after the recent snowfall. We started at the Narada Falls parking lot went to Reflection Lakes then up to wander around Mazama Ridge for a while. Probably hiked about 4.5-5 miles with 800-900 ft of elevation gain.
We were the first ones on the trail today. We could see the indentation in the snow for the trail that was between Narada Falls and Reflection Lakes.
Small falls on the Paradise River
The Paradise River is beautiful in the snow.
Another small water fall along the Paradise River, this one is just before the trail joins the Stevens Canyon Road.
The avalanche risk was moderate today, and the snow minimal on the slopes above the Stevens Canyon Road, so on the way to Reflection Lakes, we followed the road. Here looking down to Narada Falls and the parking area below.
Pano at Reflection Lakes. This morning Mt Rainier was hiding behind the clouds.
We saw several birds in the snow covered trees.
We hit the Lakes Trail through the woods from Reflection Lakes the trail was covered in fresh snow but the trail could be seen from an indentation in the snow. However, when we turned up toward Mazama Ridge there was no indication of the High Lake Trail. We had fun exploring and breaking trail. Not sure where we ended up on Mazama Ridge.
Before our turn around time, we found a nice open area to sit and enjoy lunch:
Before we turned around, the clouds began to lift and we could see the Tatoosh Range to the south.
As we followed our tracks and snowshoed back towards the Lakes Trail, we could see the clouds continuing to lift,
and had distant views of Peaks and
of Mt Rainier.
Lovely snow today.
Back at the Narada Falls Parking lot, we could see Eagle Peak
Took the short hike down to the viewpoint below Narada Falls.
View of the Paradise River above Narada Falls
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