Skyline Trail Loop, Paradise Glacier & Glacier Vista Snowshoe — Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

A missed freeway exit led us to an unexpected and wonderful experience. We were on I5 headed south for I90 intending to head up to Snow Lake, when we found ourselves in the wrong lane and couldn't get off in time. We hated to have to go miles to the next exit and turn around, and as we groused about it we saw Mount Rainier looming above us and said: "Why don't we go there instead?" We kept on driving--and then everything clicked--everything was perfect. We got up to Paradise just before noon, discovered there was actually a vacancy at the Inn, checked in and were on the trail by 12:30. It was absolutely gorgeous in the meadows. The bright red leaves of the millions of blueberry bushes shone in the sunshine. We headed up the Skyline Trail to the cutoff to the Pebble Creek Trail and took it to the creek. Neither of us likes to cross rapid streams, even though all sorts of people (including children) were heading across it. Instead, we stayed on the south side of the creek and made our way up it and under and alongside the snow field to a large rock at about 7600 feet. The mountain looked amazingly bare--the snowfield dwindled, and glaciers diminished (Global Warming!). From our viewpoint we could see Mt Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and even in the farthest distance, Mt. Hood. Unfortunately my camera was out of film (yes, I'm still not digitized), and I regretted not being able to capture the magnificence of the day. We returned to the Skyline Trail and continued the loop over the High Skyline and back by way of the Golden Gates Trail. Ironically, that night, they showed the first section of Ken Burns film about the National Parks in the lobby. Monday morning, we got up early and did a second hike, this time to the Paradise Glacier. Here again we were saddened by the retreat of the glaciers. I remember when the Ice Caves were still existant. We went a brief way past the end of the maintained trail and climbed a small knoll for a better view. The trail back to Paradise has the best views of the eastern meadows and they are truly breathtaking. These were defintely the two best days of hiking for the season. The clouds began to come in as we were leaving after lunch and we knew that snow would be falling at Paradise before the night was over.