After a long stretch of rainy weather, the clear, starry sky that greeted us this morning was a welcome early Christmas present. By the time we picked up Kenny in Puyallup, we were over a half-hour late. “Thought you guys were doggin’ me,” he mumbled as we pulled up. All five of us squished into my car, and we continued the familiar drive down to Mt. Rainier. We started our hike where Kautz Creek crosses the road a few miles below Longmire. We were happy to find that the trail, although snow-covered, was by far the easiest route to follow. The path eventually faded away, and the snow grew deeper, so we put on our snowshoes and continued marching uphill.
Rolly, Doug, and I shared the duty of breaking trail, occasionally consulting “the poor man’s GPS” that dangled from a keychain on the back of Doug’s pack.
We wound our way through trees that resembled giant pillars of snow, and finally made it to the top of a ridge, where Rainier burst into full view. Our planned destination, Pyramid Peak, looked like it was still a million miles away! We pushed on, but as our turn-around time neared, it became clear that Pyramid Peak would have to wait for another day. Instead, we headed up the nearest summit, which happened to be Mt. Ararat. The view was outstanding.
We made it back to the car by dusk, and even though we didn’t get quite as far as we had hoped, a good time was had by all.
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