In the interest of simply posting something, anything at all really, this is going to be short and sweet.
Ben, Dustin and I got in some August skiing this past weekend on Mt. Rainier. We drove down on Saturday, secured a permit from the Carbon River Ranger Station to camp in the Ptarmigan Ridge backcountry zone, then drove to Mowich Lake.
The hike from Mowich Lake to Spray Park is only 3+ miles and from there you meander through meadows full of wildflowers to find a campsite. I have visited this area 3 times now and will continue to go back. The easy access to Spray Park brings out all types of folks, but it's still not nearly as busy and Paradise or Sunrise, and in my opinion, it's more beautiful. The views of the mountain are amazing, the flowers are spectacular and the access to snow is fairly easy. The Park Service only allows 2 parties in each backcountry zone, so once the day hikers leave you really feel like you have the place to yourself.
When we reached camp on Saturday, we chilled out for several hours, taking pictures and exploring. Dustin and I threw our skis on and did a quick lap on the Flett Glacier.
We were attacked by some of the worst mosquitoes we've ever experienced in Washington and were forced to retreat to our tents early. I then discovered that my sleeping pad had sprung a leak. Needless to say, I didn't sleep that great on the hard ground.
We woke up Sunday morning to dark clouds and a few rain showers, which delayed our start a bit. Eventually the clouds blew through, the sun came out and we had great weather for the rest of the day. We left camp around 8:30, climbed the Flett Glacier, crossed onto the Russell Glacier where Ben and I skinned up to about 8,700 ft. before turning around. We had to hop a few little cracks, but other than that the route was in great shape. Views of the Mowich Glacier and Mowich Face were jaw dropping. The skiing wasn't pretty good, too!
I will post more pictures later, but here are a couple I snapped with my iPhone and ran through Instagram.
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| View of Mt. Rainier from near our campsite |
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| View of Mt. Rainier and my tent |
