Set out from parking lot at Paradise Inn at around 9:45 AM. Took paved path past Myrtle Falls and took trail to right when I came to junction with Golden Gate trail. Nice views of Mt Rainier this morning and wildflowers still blooming in meadows. Trail switches back uphill to junction with Reflection Lakes trail. Went left at junction (stayed on Skyline trail). Went short distance and took spur trail to Paradise Glacier. Saw couple ahead and reached them toward the end of the trail. They told me they had hiked this trail 20 years ago when they first met. There were ice caves and a real glacier terminus back then. Now it is just a snowfield. A sign states end of maintained trail. I hiked on the snowfield a ways and saw some people way up above on the Skyline trail. I decided to traverse back that way. Went down to a creek and crossed then up a semi-steep snowfield. Reconnected with Skyline trail. Saw lady just up ahead and then saw a young bear. I caught up to the lady in an attempt to warn her about the bear. An older man had also seen it and the 3 of us all snapped photos of the bear. I got a couple of photos with groups doing ice axe training far in the background. The bear didn't seem bothered by people. It wandered westward and we continued to see it off and on as we hiked toward Panorama Point. The older man informed us of his age (73) and the fact that he had arthroscopic knee surgery about 3 weeks ago. This was his first hike since and he seemed to do really well. We took the lower trail across a snowfield to Panorama Point. Best to have an ice axe or trekking poles if you choose this shortcut trail. Took lunch at the point and enjoyed the great views. We again saw the bear far below. After lunch I bid my new friends goodbye and continued on the Skyline trail back to Paradise parking lot. Looks like the new visitor center is nearing completion. It will be sad to see the old 60's era spaceship building go, I have a certain fondness for it, but that's progress. Will return to do Reflection Lakes loop when I have more time.

Cowlitz Rocks (7450ft), Mt. Rainier area - 4/9/2005 Charlie, John, Oli, Jo, Claes and I headed out for an early spring snow shoe outing to Cowlitz Rocks (actual out/back route in red on JPG map). We experienced all types of weather on this very picturesque and enjoyable outing. Drive: To Paradise parking lot in Mt. Rainier National Park. Our route led down the road beyond Paradise parking lot. The road has now been plowed up the mountain to within 200 - 300 feet of the Paradise parking lot. You can clearly see the ""old"" snow (about 3 ft) with the ""new"" 3 ft layer of snow on top. We shoveled a staircase up the 5 ft deep snowbank just prior to the Paradise River crossing and headed due east to Mazama Ridge. Once on the ridge, head NE to the head of the Stevens Creek cirque, then north passing point 6252 on your right, then past point 6766 on your right and then NNE to Cowlitz Rocks, staying between the Paradise and Williwakas glaciers. The scenery from Mazama Ridge to Cowlitz Rocks is pretty incredible right now. Huge untracked snow bowls fall away on your right leading down to the steep dropoffs into Stevens Canyon and rise to your left up the east flank of Mazama Ridge. Defining the skyline on your left is the summit mound of Rainier and the various cleavers on the SE side of the mountain. Rising straight ahead are the craggy rocks of Little Tahoma Peak with the ice tumble of the Ingraham glacier at its base. The final climb up to Cowlitz Rocks summit is a steep walkup. However, and this applies to many points along this route, the summit and ridge cornices are VERY pronounced , and the climbing ranger warned us that they are unconsolidated and likely to break off even further back than they normally would. The cornice on top of Cowlitz is very large, and it's a good 200 - 300 ft drop off the back onto a steep snow field. Good way to lose 500 ft of altitude quickly. We stayed well back from the cornice. We had lunch on top of Cowlitz rocks and watched the weather turn from warm sunshine to a windy, cloudy, snowy day. The weather change took about 15 minutes. I went from my two light top layers and nylon pants / longies to wearing nearly everything in my pack in that 15 minute transition. I was one fleece layer and a balaclava away from having all my packed gear on my body. Visibility went from 20 miles to 50 feet in that same time period. The other thing we noticed - the cornice ridge on Cowlitz that was so clearly visible on our ascent was literally undetectable after the weather came it. We knew right where it was, were looking right at it, and could NOT see it from 15 feet away! Packing up we headed down into the relative shelter of the Stevens Creek valley to retrace our ascent - being careful to maintain visual contact among the members of the party. The visibility increased as we descended, and when we got back to the car we were treated to re-emergence of sunshine and the play of sun and cloud shadow on the new snow covering the Tatoosh Range. Spectacular. We left the car at 9:00, made the summit of Cowlitz Rocks at noon and returned to the car at 3:00. Total miles - about 7. Total elevation gain - about 2000 ft.

Decided to seek out snow where it is most likely to hide this year. But it is well hidden up high on Mt Rainier. Crossing the bridge over the Nisqually River and looking up there is NO SNOW. The friend I went with skied down to the bridge last March from the Nisqually Chute. Devoid of snow way up the ravine. We decided to head to the location of the former Ice Caves which we knew from past experience are gone but it makes a nice tour with some turns. Concerned about the potential high clouds keeping it too crusty were turned aside by reality. Nice conditions but I'm definitely out of telemark shape so did some kick turns on steeper terrain. Used ski-crampons to get up to the slopes below Pan Point to Golden Gates. The high clouds added to the interesting lighting. The mountain was out in the morning (we hit the Longmire gate at just around 9am but it may have been opened early). A lenticular covered it in the afternoon. GREAT DAY. Mellow temperatures and a bit of a breeze. Looking down from the vicinity of the ""ice caves"" toward Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. (note to editor: the last few times, pressing ""submit report now"" gets a very slow or NO response????)

We skied to the Paradise Glacier via Edith Creek on Sunday. We know snow is on the scarce side, but expected to see more than just a foot or two at that elevation. Amazing.