Friday’s exceptional weather dovetailed perfectly with a trip to Mildred Point. We started from Longmire to take the pressure of a gate-closing deadline off our minds. Initially the trail was mostly snow-free. On the lower part of the Wonderland trail, we encountered maybe 5 sections with messy blow down, some at hip level, a few that required us to duck under. By the time we reached the junction with the Comet Falls trail, snow starting covering the trail in earnest. By that point, we were wearing microspikes which served us well up to about 4900 feet. There were canine and feline tracks along the trail through this section. We swapped for snowshoes and continued up the Rampart Ridge, arriving at Mildred Point after 4.5 hours of hiking. Our lunch spot provided great entertainment featuring rockfall and a large avalanche on the south flank of Mount Rainier. We returned to our vehicle after covering 9.6 miles and 3420 feet of climbing. The gate had closed almost a hour before, making us glad we parked at Longmire. A stop for some tasty food at Eatonville‘s Cider Haus provided a cheery way to wrap up a good day.
Short clip of avalanche below. (Video by Ron)
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