Sunday, March 24, 2013

Mud Mountain Rim Trail Hike

This morning 7 folks & 3 dogs hiked the Rim Trail at Mud Mountain Recreation Area just east of Enumclaw.  The day started off cold, but dry, and the sun ended up making its appearance eventually.  The place was  aptly named because we did slog through quite a bit of mud, but it was still beautiful.  We enjoyed the quiet of the woods and the rushing sounds of the waterfalls & river.  A great time was had by all.  

Peekaboo of the White River

Getting ready to hike..
Chris & Ces 
We left at 9:40 am by Brenda's watch. 


That Deborra is such a tree hugger!
Deborra and Kassia

Pretty, but stinky Skunk Weed 



Ces & Chris


Beautiful waterfalls across the river. 

Grace & Pace found something interesting...

Kassia & Susan



The trail was well marked & easy to follow.


That little log wasn't proving very helpful to get through the mud. 


Doggy water break.

Signs of spring!

Brenda and Grace.


When we finished the Rim Trail we decided to go down the River Trail.  It was down, down, down then up, up, up!
Heading down....

Crystal with White River in the background.
White River 

Crystal & Brenda taking a break with the dogs.
My model, Kassia. 

Heading back...

Group photo.  Front: Kassia w/Grace, Brenda w/ Pace. Back: Crystal, Ces, Deborra, Chris w/Peanut and Susan.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Mt. Rainier Snowshoe

This morning 5 of us made the long drive to Mt. Rainier to snowshoe.   We reached Paradise a little before 10 a.m and did the short snowshoe to Myrtle Falls first.  We didn't realize that Myrtle Falls would be completely covered in snow, but the views were still fantastic, so we didn't mind a bit.  It was a lot more crowded than I had anticipated, and we ran into tons of showshoers, skiers and snowboarders. I can understand why everyone was there, though, because the weather was just gorgeous.  We went down a second trail that headed to Narada Falls, but stopped at a point that looked extremely steep, to turn around.   We finished the day with a picnic lunch at the Visitor's Center.  A perfect way to end the snowshoe season!

It was just gorgeous! Look at that blue sky!
Brenda sorting out her gear in the parking lot. 

Cute snowman someone built.  You can see  how much new snow that had fallen since it was built.


Chase checking out how deep the snow was off trail.

Chase & Viki


Crystal & Brenda

First attempt at the timer.  I couldn't get into position in time.  It's hard to move quickly in snowshoes!

Made it!


My photo turned a bit hazy-my lens must have fogged over.  These are snowballs that we were rolling down the hill.  It's funny how the snow turned the round little snowballs into different shapes.




Look how deep that snow is at the lodge! I think those dormers are from the 2nd or 3rd floor.





Brenda making a heart with her & Jerry's initials.  Awww!


Thanks to Viki for the following pics.... 

This is me all red in the face after climbing up a very steep part of the trail...hard to see, but it went down, down, down then back up, up, up!