July 10, 2008
The most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48
is Mount Ranier. Knowing this interesting bit of trivia ahead of time may have helped me be a bit more prepared (at least mentally) for our hike last weekend. As it was, I was shocked to walk off the shoveled paths around the visitors center into at least a foot of packed snow. Nevertheless, we prevailed and got about a quarter of the way up the trail to where we could be above the clouds and get a good look at the summit. Getting up was a bit tricky, but getting down was a blast. In several places on the trail down park rangers had packed the snow down with shovels to create shoots, and then marked the slides as the preferred root down. It made a fun decent.
A buried trail sign. I am not sure exactly how tall it is suppose to be, but I'd imagine it is at least waist-high.
Walking in the clouds through the snow
