Pinnacle

This Tuesday, there was the odd coincidence that both my roommate, Katie, and I, had the same day off – this hasn’t happened since we first arrived! So we seized the opportunity and planned a hike.

On the morning of the said day, I woke up and looked out the window to a thick blanket of fog. It had been hanging around since yesterday and we had been optimistically hoping it would disappear… but since it was still there, I thought of other things we could do. Go to town… pick up a meal at a restaurant… go home! My home is three hours away, but I calculated it in my mind and decided we would have enough time to enjoy a home-cooked meal, which of course would be well worth the 6 hours of driving and gas $$.

When my roommate woke up, though, she was undaunted. And we ended up having a marvelous adventure.
We set our sights on Pinnacle Peak – which is a part of the Tatoosh Range that I can see from my window every morning, every night – right now as I type.

The view out my window - The Castle is on the left, Pinnacle to the right. We hiked to the saddle in between them

While it’s possible to start on road to Ohanapecosh, across from the Reflection Lakes, we choose to start right at Paradise – hike to the Lakes, then to Pinnacle. The hike across the valley was short and easy, and we reached the road quickly. We then took our lunch break in an awesome location – under a bridge!

Hike to Pinnacle Peak

The river flowed on one side of the bridge, leaving the rocks on the other side dry and perfect for us to perch on and eat our sandwiches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge over the Paradise River

Under the bridge

 After lunch we continued on… and proceeded to lose the trail. Well not really lose it, we just couldn’t find it… We knew it started somewhere along the road, but there were no signs and nothing that looked like it could be the trailhead. My dad gave me a topographic map of the park, so we used that to slowly eliminate & figure out where the trail would start – and my roommate finally spotted it.

These signs would be much more helpful if there was also a "Right Way" sign...

 

Katie found the trail! =)

The whole trail was in snow (it’s almost August now, ridiculous!!), so we… well, not exactly lost the trail… but forged our own. It was actually rather neat to use the topographic map to figure out where we were and where we were going. We did find the trail several times, and always had the mountains to orient ourselves.

We reached the lakes!

 

 

The Reflection Lakes are supposed to have a beautiful reflection of Mount Rainier on sunny days, but they’re still too covered with snow…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Reflection Lakes we set out on the climb to Pinnacle Peak. The hike to the lakes had already sapped our energy, though, so we climbed pretty slowly and took frequent breaks. What had started out as a foggy day ended up slightly clearing, and the sun made a few appearances.

Reflection Lakes

 

You probably don’t believe me that the sun came out, eh? :)

These photos might as well be balck and white!

 

 

 

 

It got pretty steep near the end, and we climbed with hands and feet several times. Finally we reached the top of a tall hill and perched on some rocks and called that good (since we didn’t really know where the “end of the hike” was). Castle was to one side, Pinnacle to the other.

Castle and Pinnacle, up close

 

Pinnacle!

The view from the top - but let's zoom in closer!

And closer...

oooh look, buildings!

the Visitor Center at Paradise, where I work!

On the way back down we glissaded since it was so steep – glissading saved a lot of time, too. It was different than at Muir, since there weren’t chutes that many people had taken, and we had to be careful not to run into trees or rocks. Katie had never glissaded before so she was nervous (but then again, she’s also paranoid that I’m going to kill her while sleep walking…). We went slow and she only lost control at one part but stopped herself in time. Really I think she had a lot of fun cause she wanted to slide down every little hill from then on.

We reached the lakes again quickly and our jeans were soaking wet (yes, we went hiking in jeans…). We didn’t want to hike back the same way we had come for fear of getting lost again – it was later in the day and we were tired by now. Sooo we waited til a car drove by and Katie stuck out her thumb! For the first time! This nice lady from Belgium was kind enough to give us a ride back to Paradise – we carefully sat on our coats so as not to get her carseats wet. All in all it was a successful first hitchhiking experience, and cut 2-3 miles of walking back.

And of course getting back… one of the best parts of hiking, especially hiking in the snow. We got our cups of hot coco, changed into dry clothes, and watched a movie. Excellent ending to an adventurous day.

Thanks for reading, more pictures on my Facebook!

Sarah

 

Camp Muir

Wow, time has been passing so oddly… quickly, yet so slow. In a few days I’ll have been here for a month.

Some friends came to visit me on Thursday… I was working that day but knew one of my friends, Lauren, would be coming by in the afternoon. I kept an eye out for her and around 3 was worried and just about to call her…. when there they were, not one friend, but two! Oh what a marvelous surprise…

They entertained themselves in the snow and were half-asleep by the fire in the Inn when I got off work. (they agreed that in the Paradise Inn at night, when the piano man was playing and the fire was going, was the best place to be EVAH! )

That night we played games with my roomie and neighbors (Crazy Rummy, just in case you were curious – and I whooped everyone, just in case you wanted to know…), and the three of us spent the night in the car, which was fantastic. We sung Disney songs and talked ’til after midnight. Proverbs is right – “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” A night with two friends in a car is so much better than a night at the Ritz all alone.

The next morning we slept in and woke up to a beautiful, clear, gorgeous day. We officially decided to hike to Camp Muir, and after picking up some sack lunches from the employee dining room, set off. At 10:40 am just in case you wanted to know.

Insert postcard pictures:

 

As you can tell, it was a beautiful day. I’m convinced our timing was truly perfect, as some people I talked to just today said the snow is getting softer – only a few days can make a difference.

When we headed out, we stepped on the snow right outside the visitor center (I’ve never really known before where the people were hiking to up there before…) and walked up and up and up until… Muir! Yep, that’s pretty much what happened, over the next 6 hours. We took a break for lunch and small breaks every time we crested a hill.

Here’s the times, about:

Left – 10:40am

Reached Muir – 4:20pm

Left Muir – 5pm

Got back – 7:30pm

I’m still amazed I made it without fainting or dying or some other serious some-such occurring… The fact that I climbed 4000+ feet that well, I can only attribute to my friend’s talent at setting a good, steady pace that I could keep up with.

Ah, it was a good day. After we reached Muir, we enjoyed the view for a good time before preparing to head back down.

On the way down the “hill”, I was introduced to “glissading” – a hiker/climber’s term for basically sliding on your bum down the snow. What fun! I was pitiful on the flatter inclines, but on the steep hills, man what a ride! Why had I never heard of this before?? Definitely some exhilarating rides… if my camera had been waterproof I would have taken you down one of the chutes with me.

I felt like my friends had no sooner arrived than they left… wow did time fly. It was so wonderful to see familiar, beloved faces, though, and to spend time with them… to accomplish something together.

Isn’t life grand?

Snails & Slugs

So I’m late blogging about it, but this Monday I had a day off… and I opted for staying around Paradise and working on school… doing laundry, all that great stuff. When my roommate got back from work, she said, “hey, let’s go somewhere!” And since I had been sitting around all day, “sure, why not!”

So we took the 5:30 shuttle down to Ashford and got dropped off in town by Ed, one of the shuttle drivers. He said he’d be back at 8:30 to pick us up, so we had 2 hours to explore the town.

We probably could have seen all of Ashford in ten minutes, but we took it slow… first trying out the small climbing wall in front of the mountainering building, then found a swing, then walked to the gas station (you’re probably starting to get an idea of how small Ashford is now…), then played at the playground for a while (good playground!), before buying several things at the general store and getting ice cream at a restaurant. All of these buildings were on one road, no more than half a mile from each other. Gas station, restaurant, general store… pretty much sums up all there is to see in Ashford.

While we were walking back from the playground on a trail, my roommate Katie stopped and poked something on the ground. “What is this??”

And yes, my dear folk, it was a slug. My roommate had never seen a slug before.

We started looking around and without going more than a few feet found quite few slugs and snails – Katie was so fascinated it was amazing. XD She had never seen slugs or snails before… we almost took a snail home but didn’t.

Snails!

As a Washingtonian I wasn’t quite as impressed… slugs are my mom’s mortal enemy, to be vanquished into a pile of slime by a heap of salt. Snails are cool, though.

Some flowers near the playground...

After our ice cream we walked out of the restaurant a few minutes before 8:30… and waited… and waited… and walked to the gas station… and decided Ed the shuttle man forgot about us. We were 2 miles away from the Ashford office where the shuttles leave, and the last shuttle to Paradise was leaving at 9:30. It was now about 8:45… so we power walked/jogged from the Ashford gas station to the office… and made it just in time!! Twas funny though, as the two of us had just been talking about how we didn’t like to run… and that night it was run or sleep outside all night.

So all in all it was an eventful night that made up for my laziness the rest of the day. We were thankful to be back at Paradise that night, and now I have chocolates to eat every night when the craving hits. Awesome.

 

The last paper of my last quarter of my first year of college is due this Sunday… so I’ll post again once that’s over and done with.

Church and a Hike

So this week I had Friday off, and I thought I had Saturday as well, since that’s what I had last time (They usually give employees regular days off). But as it turns out, when I came into the cafe around noon for lunch, I was working that day! I ended up being only an hour late and worked hard as it was busy… And now I have Sunday and Monday off – which will be my new regular days off. My boss, Mary, changed them because she knew I would be going to church. So sweet of her!

So day off, one day of work, day off, day off. What am I to do with myself with all that free time?? I already posted my pictures from the hike I did on Friday, here’s what happened today (Sunday):

Once I found out I had the day off, I knocked on my neighbor’s door, Kayla. She came with the Christian ministries in the parks (www.acmnp.com), along with a guy named Lee. They were actually the first people I met when I came. She was super excited when I told her I could come.

So the next morning I got up before seven (earliest I’ve woken up in a while… I’m sure my family’s smirking at that, but hey, I see no reason to wake up early if I don’t need to. ), headed over for breakfast, and picked up my sack lunch from the cafeteria. We can arrange for one sack lunch a week, and take it hiking or wherever. And it’s free! (Which it better be as we’re paying for meals…) Sweet deal.

I drove with Kayla, Lee, Courtney (Kayla’s roomie), and Gene (who works in the kitchens) to Ohanapecosh (try remembering that name five minutes later!). It took about 40 minutes to drive to… beautiful drive though, along one mountain ridge, slipping across the valley, then back along another mountain ridge. It was a clear, sunny day, so we had great views of Mount Rainier along the way. There were waterfalls everywhere along the road – almost got a car wash a couple times.

Once we reached Ohanapecosh and met up with Vince and Kristy – a couple that are in charge of the ministry at Mt. Rainier NP, I believe – we went to the amphitheater which was outside (gaspeth!) and a fairly good size. A good amount of people showed up too, I think about 17 others, not including us. They came from the campground nearby and the ranger station. It was a small church service, with a few songs and prayers, then Vince  talked for a while about Genesis 1.

It was great talking with the people afterwards.

Annnnd then we went for a hike! The seven of us – Vince, Kristy, Lee, Kayla, Gene, Courtney, and me! We walked up to Grove of the Patriarchs and then back. On the way we passed Silver Falls – BEAUTIFUL waterfall. Mesmerizing to watch.

Silver Falls

Pictures just don’t do it justice – cliche but true. I’ve never seen another waterfall where you could see so many individual water drops as they sprayed into the air and fell. This waterfall was fast, almost violent, sending some water shooting into the air after they hit the bottom. Beautiful.

Bridge we crossed on the way – awesome, yes? Only one person could cross at a time. It swayed and bounced in an odd but cool way as you walked.

All of us. =)

My Sack Lunch

And of course my lunch. Just to show you how amazing it was!

Most of the rest of the day I spent in Paradise Inn, reading Donald Miller, people-watching, and listening to piano music. They have a piano player who is there about 5-8 every day, so wonderful to sit and listen to… When I came in tonight he was playing “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady.

 

Here’s the link to my pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113953510817426936065/Jun5GroveOfThePatriarchs?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmm9KHisey20wE&feat=directlink

Sunshine

Everyone here agrees that today was the best weather since the beginning of May. It was gorgeously clear and sunny… annnd it was my day off!

I ended up spending a lot of the day waiting, which is fine with me, as what I really wanted to do all day was spend time with God, and I can do that if I’m hiking or sitting waiting for the shuttle, I just wanted time alone  with God.

The past few days of work had kind of drained me… we took inventory on the last day of the month, and I made some (innocent) mistakes, and… yeah, we’ll just leave it at that they were draining. So I was entirely ready to enjoy my days off.

After breakfast and brushing my teeth and all that awesome stuff that’s good for you, I headed to the employee cafeteria to find I had missed the 10:15 shuttle and the next one left at noon. So I wandered around Paradise and actually took some pictures of it *gaspeth!*. Here they are:

The back of Paradise Inn – these would be the rooms where the guests stay.

Upstairs in PI. It’s a wonderfully beautiful building. The floors creak up here cause they’re old – how awesome is THAT! =D

The beautiful lanterns they use for lighting. Like in “Tangled”! =)

Where they burn the large pile of firewood. It wasn’t going today, though, I guess because it was warm…?

Paradise Inn! Note the large pile of firewood. =) And the steeply sloped roof, for shedding snow easily.

The parking lot – so interesting! :)

This is the path to Guidehouse, where I and most of the girls working here stay.

Enjoy this picture, because I hiked up a mound of snow to take it. This is the view from behind Paradise Inn.

I loved the shadows of the trees on the hill.

I don’t remember the name of this mountain… but it sure was pretty today! =)

After that wonderful time of taking pictures, lying on my back feeling the glorious sun, praying, reading my Bible, eating lunch, the shuttle finally left at noon.

I got dropped off (by request, not because I was such a troublemaker ) at Cougar Rock Campground. There’s a trail that runs from there down to Longmire. It also goes up to Paradise, passing by several waterfalls on the way, but I’ll wait to hike that ’til the snow has melted a bit more.

I hiked slow – oh it was such a beautiful day. I love how I had the trail to myself, too, except for the very few hikers/joggers that passed. The trail did follow the road, but I either wasn’t paying attention, or not that many cars passed by, because I didn’t hear them very often. The river was on my left, though, and I could hear that all the time. Also heard a woodpecker but couldn’t find it in the trees…

Here’s some more pictures:

Straight ahead, Mr. Lancey!

“The road goes ever on and on…”

I loved how this branch coming out of a fallen log twisted

I want to build a house around this tree. A big house – with the tree right in the middle!

This picture came out dark, but I like it…

Orange globular stuff by the side of the trail that I found interesting enough to take a picture of

This grass was bizarre and seemed very out of place in the forest

These little green plants were everywhere – and very beautifully delicate and new! =)

Also love the shadows in this picture

So tiny!! I took a bunch of “tiny” pictures, so be prepared. :)

When I reached Longmire I walked past the employee buildings to the river…

All in all, great hike, great time by myself.

 

P.S. How’s this gallery thing working?

Rampart Ridge Hike

I took this picture this morning, to show how the parking lot's filling up (even with the bad weather, it's still Memorial Day Weekend)

Today I took the shuttle down to Longmire at noon and set off on the Trail of Shadows again. Halfway around its loop, another trail heads off and up that mountain (Rampart Ridge Trail), so I took that today.

I hiked for about an hour uphill all the way (stopping frequently to catch my breath and lament how soft I’ve grown over the winter ). Then I started to hit the snow, and stopped for a while. I spread my coat over a log and sat munching on my GORP. (I also looked up the story of Jonathan and his armorbearer climbing up the cliff and defeating the Philistines as that story popped into my head as I was huffing and puffing up the mountain). I couldn’t decide whether to continue – in my tennis shoes, and risk losing the trail in the snow – or whether to head back down. But I decided to keep going, and am very glad I did.
I caught up with a hiker named Rick from Oregon, and we hiked the rest of the way together. I love meeting people from everywhere, and getting to know who they are. Rick and I hiked through the snow for a while until we reached the viewpoint – which was not much of a viewpoint as it was so foggy!

I’m trying out a gallery in this post, let me know what you think. You can click each picture to see it larger:

I took this picture this morning, to show how the parking lot’s filling up (even with the bad weather, it’s still Memorial Day Weekend)

Longmire from the Ridge

We saw a couple birds on the hike, they were amazingly bold and let us get rather close.

We kept hiking through the snow for about another mile and a half before the trail headed back down the hill. The snow was very high but packed hard from so many hikers – it was an odd feeling to be walking on the snow and come along a hole – to lean over and look down and find you were about 2-5 feet above the ground!

I ended up with shoes full of water and jeans wet halfway to the knees, but I’m glad I kept going. It was a good hike – more than 5 miles in all. I’ll go back in July or so and see how it looks when the snow’s gone!

More “firsts”… First hike on my First day off!

I had my first day off today, so after breakfast (french toast, in case you wanted to know) and computer work, I went to wait outside the employee dining room for the shuttle. We have two vans that drive up and down the mountain and take employees for free – they’ll even drop you off at hike trailheads along the way, and stop to pick you up when you emerge back onto the road.

So I stop outside to wait for the van. It was snowing, and with my head down I watched it fall. If you didn’t think I was weird before, you will now. Watching that snow fall was the coolest thing… The wind would catch it and swirl it in patterns. Like when the blossoms formed into a person in the second Narnia movie… you almost expected a face to form and laugh at you. This snow disappeared as soon as it landed on the ground, disappeared… And if it blew just right, fast and straight down, it felt like you were in space, flying through the stars.

Yeah. Like I told you, you think I’m crazy now. But it was cool.

Anyhow, a friend (Trish) decided to join me on the ride down to Longmire, and we did the short hike, Trail of Shadows. And then we rode the shuttle down to Ashford and back up, but that’s okay, it’s such a beautiful ride… Even though it’s foggy up at Paradise, it’s fairly clear down below, and the view along the whole way is beautiful.

I thought the pictures I took wouldn’t be that interesting, but looking back I realized… you can’t really take a boring picture near Mount Rainier. So here they are, pictures from my first (albeit short) hike here:

I was trying to get the reflection of the sky in this photo... the skunk cabbage was everywhere! I'm not really bothered by the smell though, and I think they're quite pretty.

This color is from the hot springs in the area. A Mr. Longmire "discovered" them over a hundred years ago, thought, "ha ha, cha-ching!" and started visitors heading up here to improve their health in the hot springs.

More colors from hot springs... Isn't God amazing?

I liked the colors of this stump.

My friend and co-worker Trish taking a picture of the stump

Do I know the name of this mountain? Mmm... nope!

My camera has a “miniature mode” that’s fun to play around with:

 

 

This is National Park Inn, I believe...

 

 

And here’s some more pictures I’ve taken from my window these last couple nights, just to show how amazingly different the mountains can look…

Right now the sun is coming out… so there’s hope this snow will melt. Tomorrow is another day off before I get back to work, so I’m going to work on school, than take a longer hike.

TTFN!

Sarah