Longmire to Cougar Rock Campground — Friday, Mar. 21, 2008

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

Temps were a crisp 29 degrees as the Longmire gate opened at 9 am. On such a beautiful day as this, the three of us were surprised to see only about a dozen cars waiting. Right out of the parking lot we donned snowshoes and headed up the Wonderland trail, crossing the Nisqually River on the Cougar Rock log bridge. We scrambled up the snowy bank to the north & through the trees, connecting with the trail again above Paradise River. We later turned around just before Carter Falls. The snowfall over the often narrow trail had made the angle in some sections increasingly steep & slick. We backtracked and decided to snowshoe up the river bed, following the Nisqually. With the awesome view of the mountain in our faces, sunshine with blue skies, fresh powdery snow and only animal tracks for company; times like these make for some very special memories. Map USGS Mt Rainier West