Bumping Lake — Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

I led a Cascadian snowshoe to Bumping Lake on this sunny, mild day. We parked in the new Bumping Lake Sno-Park, walked across the dam, and then along the open shoreline with views of Old Scab Mtn & Nelson Ridge. We showshoed until we found a spot with a nice view of the House Rock group near where the road ends. There wasn't as much snow as I would have liked (some bare pavement on the dam and bare spots along the lakeshore) and I tried booting it for a while, but in most places the snow was a little deep for easy walking without snowshoes. The lake is frozen and made eerie sounds all day somewhat reminiscent of low-toned whale songs. After a leisurly lunch in the sun we headed back. When we were about 1/2 way back three big (4 engine) military jets flew down the lake at an altitude of about 200'. I've seen fighter jets do this going twice as fast with three times as much noise, but never big planes like these. We didn't see any wildlife, but had the entire place to ourselves -- a nice winter day in the mountains.