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We started off early as it was quite a
long drive (about 4hrs), and one of the roads was closed for
the winter, so it took even longer.
But we managed to
have fun getting there.
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We stopped off at the pretty, little,
Elbe
Church.
Built in 1906, it's on the National Historical
Register, and at 18ft*24ft is one of the smallest
churches. Services are still held here. |
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In Mount Rainier
National Park, the roads were lined with native pine trees. |
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But as we got higher up, the trees turned in to walls of
snow.
I'm glad the roads are ploughed all winter! |
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We went to the visitor's center at Paradise for an early lunch. It
was a circular building, and the observation deck had
beautiful views of the cascades all around us. We went to
the exhibition hall and learned some facts about the
mountain. Captain Vancouver named this mountain (and St Helen's, Hood, etc) after fellow Royal Navy officers. The
nearest city to here, Tacoma, made a petition to have it
renamed - they wanted it called....yeah, you guessed it -
Tacoma. |
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Next, it was time for the star attraction. No -
not me! (blush) We were here to have a guided
snow-shoe tour of the mountain.
I tried the modern snow shoe.
Easy to use, it has grip, so it
prevents you from slipping backwards when going up
hills! |
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This is Fergus trying out the more traditional
"tennis-racket" snow shoes.
These are practically antiques - you certainly can't buy
them in sports shops any more. They are much larger
and harder to manage, and provide no grip for going up hills.
Note the visitor's centre in the background, and how high
up we
are already.
Our guide told us that we were actually walking on
over 15ft of snow. 30ft of snow has fallen at this level,
but has compacted down to just(!) 15ft at this stage. |
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A (low-flying) bird's-eye view of our snow-shoes. |
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And then we all set off up the first hill. It's really
quite awkward walking with tennis rackets on your feet. |
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The adventurers! |
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It was a perfect day. And the views of Mount Rainier are
just gorgeous.
I think we should make this into a postcard! |
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After a while we came to a downhill part.
That's
when I realised that those with the old-fashioned snow
shoes (and no grip), could sit on the back of them and
use them as sleds! Awh! That looks like fun! |
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Fergus on his (not very dignified) descent. |
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Just checking to see if he's all in one piece. |
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Are we having fun yet?
Yup - I should think so!! |
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We aren't the only ones above the snow line - our guide
told us these were made by an Artic fox. |
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The poles mark the edge of the trail. I don't fancy
going past this one - we'd be over the edge! |
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In the summer, the snow is still here at the top, but
the glaciers are more defined. Mount Rainier has
26 (or so)
glaciers, formed by compacting snow.
There is about 35sq miles of snow and ice in "dem dere
hills".
It looks beautiful, but this is actually a very
dangerous mountain, a lot of people die each year in
hiking and climbing incidents. I think there have already
been two deaths this year, and summer is the most
dangerous time. |
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At the half-way point, Fergus and I swapped snow-shoes so we
could try out both types. These were more work than the
other ones when
walking in the tracks of the trail. |
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But they were easier for "off-piste" walking on fresh
snow. |
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And they were definitely "interesting" when going down hill
without any grip! |
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More picture postcard views! It was just
so beautiful. |
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Then it was back to the visitor center. |
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And time to hang up our snow shoes. |
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Back to the visitor centre to find out more about the real
natives. The Dall sheep and the grizzly bear.
The native American Indians never ventured above the snow
line as it was an "angry mountain" - and it was - it erupted
about 150 years ago (and is due again anytime soon). |
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Fergus demonstrating the depth of snow outside the
visitor centre. He could be on Blue Peter, couldn't
he? |
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Just outside the Park, we called in at this bar for a local
brew. There were only 4 people there, so we sat at the bar and chatted to the
locals.
It's a very small rural community. The woman beside me told me how her friend encouraged her
to see how quickly gossip traveled. They made up a
story that they had just got married, had just one more
whiskey, got on their Harleys and drove to another bar 13
miles away - where they were welcomed immediately with
"Congratulations".
And I believe her. I wonder how long "those weird N.
Irish folks" will be talk of the town? |
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What a great day out we had! |
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