Paradise Glacier, Glacier Vista Snowshoe — Saturday, Feb. 24, 2001

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

Hurray for blue skies! Started our excursion from the Paradise parking lot on this absolutely gorgeous sunny February Sunday. Headed down the road beyond Paradise and up to Mazama Ridge, where we took a left and onward to Paradise Glacier. We were both not sure what it would look like when we saw it because of the snowcover, etc. We kept plugging away with the help of our topo and compass (and also following tracks that seemed to know where they were going!) and finally settled on a rocky hilltop for lunch since we were looking forward to a rest and I was certainly starving! (I'd been looking forward to lunch before we left the parking lot!) I was slightly bummed that this huge wall of snow was obstructing our view of Rainier but we still had an awesome view of the Cascade range. After making a point to really study my Paradise area topo map, I realized we had been snowshoeing along side the massive glacier for quite awhile! (That was the huge obstructing wall of snow!) Ok, so we felt a little silly, but we at least got to our destination - and beyond! On our way back, we explored the rolling hills in an attempt to get back via Panorama Point. We were certain we found the way there, but opted to go the rest of the way back the way we originally came because low clouds suddenly encompassed the area but there was more clearing via the lower route. Colder temps came along with the clouds, too. We probably would have been fine, but there was no reason to take any chances on winding up all socked in. We can always go back again to get to Pan Point. It was a good day at Rainier! Great views all the way.