Reflection Lakes Snowshoe

 We drove up to Mt Rainier National Park to snowshoe from the Narada Falls parking area to Reflection Lakes. 3+ mile round trip with about 300 ft of gain.
There were no tracks in the snow since the last snow fall. The trail markers have not yet been placed either. So we broke trail and did some route finding. Soon a nice young couple got ahead of us and broke trail making our trip a bit easier.

 View along the Paradise River

 We took a slightly different way up to the Stevens Canyon Road so we could see this small waterfall along the Paradise River.

 The avalanche conditions were moderate below tree line at Mt Rainier today and there wasn't much snow on the avalanche slopes here, so we continued along the closed Stevens Canyon Road instead of trying to route find and break trail over the High Lakes Trail to Reflection Lakes.








We were thrilled that the predicted rain/snow fall was delayed today and we had a fabulous view of Mt Rainier while we were on the trail.










Looking down on Narada Falls and the parking area where we started our trip today.












First view of Rainier at Reflection Lakes.

 We found a nice spot to eat lunch and enjoy the view at Reflection Lakes.












Saw these lovely icicles on our hike back.












Sun started to break through the clouds above the Tatoosh Peaks












As we snowshoed back along the Stevens Canyon Road, clouds were descending on Mt Rainier











There skies were still beautiful over the Tatoosh.

 Last view of Rainier before we descended back down the trail to Narada Falls area.

 It was a Winter Wonderland today, very few people on the trail today.

Some nice icicles under the snow bank along the Paradise River

We took the short side trail down to Narada Falls.

Another gorgeous day at Mt Rainier National Park

Yellow Aster Butte

Today we drove up to the Mount Baker Highway to hike up to Yellow Aster Butte. This is a 7.5 mile round trip hike with 2,550 ft of gain. We felt today's conditions were safe to hike in this normally avalanche prone area.
The first 3/4 mile of the trail had little snow. On the first switchbacks on the open slope, we had a gorgeous view of Mt Baker.

After that first 3/4 mile, the trail was consistently covered in snow, we wore our microspikes as several sections were very icy.

Our first view of Yellow Aster Butte

















Most of the trail was well packed down, but there were a couple of areas where the wind had covered the trail with fresh snow and we did some post holing.

Standing below Yellow Aster Butte

View of Mt Shuksan at the creek crossing

Continuing up the trail

Mt Baker and a local peak
















The winter "trail" takes a short cut going straight up to a ridge below Yellow Aster Butte.

I didn't feel comfortable going up the last 200 ft to the end of the trail on Yellow Aster Butte with the steepness of the trail and the exposure. There was not enough snow to get good kick steps. I opted to stay on this ridge, enjoying the views and my lunch while my friends continued on to the top.













Wide angle view from the ridge looking north to Tomyhoi Peak, Yellow Aster Butte on the right.

view of Mt Baker from the ridge

















Pano from the ridge south to west: Mt Shuksan and Mt Baker

Pano from the ridge west to north: Mt Baker to Tomyhoi Peak

Enjoying this beautiful day in the North Cascades

My shadow below Yellow Aster Butte

Heading back down the trail, looking towards the peaks to the east

Some interesting icicles on a boulder.

Watching the sun go down near Mt Baker as we finish our hike

Snow Lake

We hiked up to Snow Lake today. The snow was well packed and there was very little snow in the avalanche chutes. This is a 7.2 mile round trip hike with 1,800 ft of elevation gain.
The trail starts across from the Alpental Ski area. The trail was well packed down and  icy from the beginning of the trail, so we wore microspikes.
My phone camera wouldn't work today, so I'm using my friends photos.

The snow covered peaks were beautiful.



The clouds moved around the peaks today.

Between the beautiful peaks and the icicles hanging from the rocky cliffs, we spent quite a bit of time on the switchbacks up to the pass, taking in the views and taking lots of photos.

When you read the saddle above the switchbacks, the trail enters the Alpine Lake Wilderness.

View of Snow Lake from a rock outcropping up on the saddle.












Views of Snow Lake as we descend down to the lake basin.

The trail in the lake basin was a winter wonderland!

The trail crosses an inlet to Snow Lake, we decided to take the side trail down to Snow Lake before continuing on the trail.

View from the inlet towards Snow Lake.

















Wide angle view of Snow Lake from the end of the side trail:

view looking across to the left













Back to the trail junction, the trail continues around to the north side of the lake, crossing on boulders in the inlet.

We continued until we reached a promontory on the north side of the lake. Looking across to Wright Peak.

Pano of Snow Lake looking southwest from the promontory:

On our return, the boulder crossing of the inlet.

There were some bulbous icicles along the edge of the inlet.

















Looking back at Snow Lake as we hike back up to the saddle:

Today was a wonderful day in the mountains!!!