Another beautiful sunny day to go skiing at Mt. Rainier, this time on the Mowich Lake Road leading into the northwest corner of the park. The road on the way in was bare, mostly dry, leaving us wondering about the snow conditions for out ski trip. At the park boundary, approximately, we began to run into snow. We had to drive tracks a short distance to the Paul Peak Loop TH and parking area. The parking lot itself was pretty snowy, so we parked on the muddy road portion of the parking lot. We immediately put on our skis and grumbled about the snowshoers wiping out prior ski tracks. Immediately before and after the locked gate, we saw patches of bare ground (picture #1) and weren’t thrilled to be on thin, crusty snow. We also knew the snow conditions would soften in the sun. The trees themselves were white, from a recent snowfall. The road gains its 1410’ elevation gradually, and it didn’t take more than 30 minutes or so to hit both decent snow, and ski tracks separate from the snowshoe tracks. About this time, DAR and I began to think we were in an artillery barrage, or that someone was illegally shooting in the park. Whomp! Crack! Snap! The trees were unloading their snow loads almost constantly for the rest of the trip. We commented on how pleased we were to be skiing a wide road, not under a canopy of trees (hard hats recommended). About half way up the 4 plus miles to the lake, we hit patches of sticky snow, reducing our pace to a slow walk. We were also breaking trail – it didn’t appear like anyone had gone before us. A few inches of snow came up with each lift of the ski – sliding was not possible until we would hit a good stretch of snow. We alternated leading during this time. Just before the final stretch, we met a ranger on his way down, and had a short conversation with him. He had cut across the road on the Grindstone Trail – something we hadn’t considered with all the snow bombing. Lunch was a stomped out spot on the road above the lake, in sight of the Mountain. Before leaving, I checked out the parking area and lake shore, where it was warm and sunny. In the shade, it was cold. The trip back was quick, though we were sticking enough to be walking more than gliding down the gentle slope. In icy conditions, I’m sure we would have been trying to slow down. This was the perfect spring trip, as the entire trip was in the park, free from the 4-wheelers who try to see how far they can drive before getting stuck, and ruining the snow for the ski out (past experience speaks here). This would be a great overnight snow trip for the next few weekends, but bring skis or snowshoes – there’s several feet of snow yet at road’s end and it usually doesn’t melt out until early July.

Saturday we headed to the Mountain for a snow shoe to Mowich Lake. We encountered snow on the access road before we reached the park boundary sign at elev. 3,000 ft. The last 1/4 mile to Paul Peak trail head is through rutted snow, but is driveable for high clearance vehicles. The first 3 miles is a road walk then look for the orange blazes marking the off road trail through the trees. This route is more challenging, fun and more beautiful than following the road. We were fortunate to be the ones breaking trail through the pristine snow! The lake was beautifully snow covered, even on this cloudy day. Time from trail head to lake was 2 hours. Time back was 1 1/2 hours....quicker for cross country skiers.

I went back to Mowich Lake to ski - a month ago we snowshoed and I kept thinking how much fun it would be to ski down. The weather was almost exactly the same as last month - RAIN. This time it never turned to snow - just a steady rain. We skied up to the Lake and it was beautiful. Saw no one on the way up and just two people on the way down. The snow was soft because it was warm but there were tracks all the way up so that made it nice. It is an easy ski, just wished it was a little harder snow so we could come down faster, but it was fun anyway. Parking lot was a little difficult to get around in but we were the only ones parking so it didn't matter. Fun time.

My friend and I decided we wanted to ski the closed portion of the road to Mowich Lake. We drove to the parking area just before the locked gate. The road was fine with the exception of snow shortly before reaching the parking area. The tire ruts are deep and the snow in the middle is high so a vehicle with high clearance is desirable. The biggest driving hazard, however, was the parking area itself with deep, soft, wet snow. Take a shovel and chains just in case (we needed the shovel but not the chains). You could also park along the side of the road when you hit the snow and walk a short distance to the start of the trail. The bathrooms are open (another plus to this trip) and we were appreciative of the dry shelter to change into and out of our ski clothes since it was raining steadily. The trail is a mild upward grade all the way to the lake with about a 1400 foot elevation gain over 5.5 miles. The first mile was a bit difficult as the snow was hard and kind of icey making it difficult to get a grip and keep from sliding backwards. The rest of the trip was pretty easy as there is a nice track made by some kind soul earlier in the weekend and the snow is soft but cold enough to get good traction and even a fairly nice kick & glide. It was raining at the start of the trail and we hoped to eventually reach a spot where the rain turned into snow, unfortunately, even at the 4900 foot level at the lake we continued to have rain. Of course, it was also overcast so the views were limited but it was still a peaceful and beautiful trip through the woods and to the lake. After a short lunch we headed back down. It was a very easy ski back down those 5.5 miles with very little effort on our part. We simply got back in the tracks and let gravity do most of the work making for a quick trip back to the car. We would have had a miserable time if we hadn't had good weather gear for the rain but we managed to stay pretty dry. It felt good to get out and ski, even if the conditions were not ideal. We hope to go back again when there is a lower freezing level and better visibility.

We went snowshoeing on the Mowich Lake Rd. I've wanted to go skiing there for a long time but had new snowhoes we had to try out. It was raining when we left home and I was afraid we would not be high enough to leave the rain but we went anyway. Road conditions to the parking Lot at Paul Peak trailhead where the road is closed were good. Icy parking lot, and lots of rain to start with, but about a mile into it the rain turned into snow and the road was much easier to snowshoe - not so crusty and bumpy. It was beautiful, and snowed most of the time we were snowshoeing but did occasionally stop. WE didn't hike all the way to the lake unfortunately, but it was fun anyway. Once past the dirty snow and rain it was really enjoyable. However, we came back to the rain on the way back to the car and were quite wet by the time we were ready to leave. There were only about 4 cars there when we arrived and a few more came before we left, so it was quite peaceful. Next time I go back I am going to ski tho to the lake - it looked very inviting to come down the road!