Mt. Rainier Snow Camping

Location: Paradise, Mt. Rainier (2.5 hours from Seattle)

Where do I begin, my friend Doris and I have been talking about snow camping with the PNW Outdoor Women's group since at least last summer. We have multiple friends that did it last year and only had good things to say so we put it on our to-do list.

November came around and Teresa, the amazing coordinator of this event, put out the link to sign up and Doris and I were lucky enough to get a spot within the one minute it sold out. Talk about competitive. So this was for sure happening and I analyzed the gear list and figured out what I had and needed to get. Let me remind you I am not even a year into backpacking yet, so taking on snow camping while being a newb at 3 season camping, seemed way over my head. Things I bought which I didn't previously have were synthetic puffy booties for sleeping (these turned out to be one of the best purchases and kept us warm all night), new smartwool pants/ top (needed these anyways), I bought a new Enlightened Equipment quilt- not specifically for this event but got one that went to 10 degrees (no more mummy bag)!, snow stakes and I borrowed a bear canister and shovel from a friend. Overall wasn't too bad to prepare for. If you have been 3 season backpacking, you should have most of the gear.

Here was my final gear list:

• pack +pack rain cover
• sleeping pad
• down quilt + straps
• costco down blanket
• down booties
• headlamp + batteries
• 2 Nalgene's
• stove + fuel
• snow stakes
• pillow
• bowl + spoon
• Coffee mug + instant coffee, cocoa
• lighter/matches
• sunscreen
• first aid kit
• ear plugs
• toiletries
• heat packs/ hand warmer
• spikes
• snowshoes
• poles
• sit pad
• sun glasses
• base ball cap + warm hat
• smartwool top and bottom
• fleece lined leggings
• snow pants
• 2 pairs hiking socks
• patagonia fleece zip up
• light down jacket
• heavy duty ski jacket
• 2 pairs of gloves (light pair/heavy pair)
• toilet paper
• External battery charger for phone
• camera + batteries
• America Beautiful Pass

Like I said- PNW Outdoor Women's group hosted this event and did all of the ground work for us in securing permits for Mt. Rainier. In the winter, for groups 12 or more, you need to get a group permit ahead of time, for groups under 12 you can go day of and get one and pick any spot you'd like (300 ft from parking lot and trails). Such a unique experience to be able to camp in places you'd never be able to any other time of the year.

So the actual day of.. we carpooled with our new friend Heidi and met up with everyone at Longmire and did introductions and went over a few things. We made the icy, long, beautiful trek up to Paradise after that. All cars are required to carry chains in the winter, even AWD and 4WD. We didn't need to put them on but had them with. Make sure to park in the overnight parking section if you plan on spending the night up there. We all put on our huge packs, for which we got questions of how long we would be out there.. oh just one night, but you need a lot of gear! There ended up being 37 of us and we hit the trail, for about .25 mile and then set up camp behind the Paradise Lodge. My pack was over 40 pounds, so I'm glad we didn't have to cary it too far.

Site selection.. from what I learned this weekend is you want to be not under any trees (heavy snow can fall on your tent), away from any water sources, and of course out of avalanche terrain. We all picked our spots, and laid out all 25 tents! What a site to see. To make a spot for your tent you dig at least 2-3 feet down and make a flattened space. If it is windy, you want to build your walls higher. We had the most perfect weather you could ever have asked for with blue bird skies and no wind, so we didn't have to worry about that. This did take a good amount of time to make the platform for our tent. Stomping down with snowshoes helped a lot. We got up our tent, set up our beds, and ate lunch. It was actually really sunny and hot at this point and I was down to my last layers! I also put on sunscreen 3 times that day and still got a little pink. The sun is super harsh with reflecting from the snow so it's important to lather that sunscreen up a lot.

After everyone was set up we went to adventure up the mountain. Some chose microspikes and some wore snowshoes. I chose snowshoes as I don't enjoy post-holing too much. We hiked up just below panorama point and enjoyed the views of the mountain, the tatoosh range, and mt. adams and st. helens as well. The sun was beginning to dip down so most made their way back to camp while some of us stayed to soak in the sunset. We then made our way back to camp and made dinner in the "living room"- a carved out area of snow with benches to sit on! One thing about the cold and fuel for cooking- try to keep it elevated off the snow and always wrapped in something warm when not using. Ours froze fast when on the ground. Also, my MSR takes one minute to boil water, but boiling snow takes about 10 minutes so plan on using much more fuel. I would possibly buy a 4 season fuel canister for next time. I drank my hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps and then we decided to get ready for bed. It was before 9 but had already been dark for hours. I tried to do a few night photography shots, but waited too long and the moon had brightened up the sky a lot.

When sleeping- it is best to put anything that may freeze between you and another person or in your sleeping bag with you. I had my contacts in my pocket, cell phone, and camera, fuel, and water bottles between us. None of those things froze, so that worked out well.

Up until this point I hadn't been too miserably cold at all during the day as we kept moving a lot. When we crawled into bed, we put on our booties and that kept our feet toasty all night. I slept with 2 pairs of pants on, and 3 layers on top. I didn't want to sleep with my huge ski parka and snow pants on as that was very uncomfortable. I got cold right away and kept trying to fall asleep, but had no luck. I couldn't warm up so I put my snow pants on at one point, but was still very cold through the night and didn't sleep well at all. Something that I think would've helped is a z-lite pad under my inflatable sleeping pad. My sleeping pad has a high R value (rated for warmth), but it was not enough. I could feel the cold snow below me all night, which was not fun. I also need to figure out the quilt sleeping system. This has no bottom and has 2 straps that go under the sleeping pad. I loved the spaciousness of it, but need to figure out how to stay warm in it. I got some sleep that night and then we were up by 7:30 to catch the sunrise (yay for late sunrises in the winter). My hiking boots had gotten wet from the snow the previous day and were now frozen when I woke up. I had even put them inside the tent to help prevent this and I still could barely get them on. That was not super fun as well. We got up and made our way to catch some of the sunrise and then went back to camp and made breakfast and had hot coffee and the community of the other women around.

It was a great time meeting so many new people that share the same passion with me. So inspiring to be around so many bad ass women who are doing things I can only dream. I enjoyed learning from them and all the experienced tips they had to give. I am such a beginner in the world of backcountry adventures, but am willing and excited to learn from all. I am so lucky to have found this community of women who strengthen and lift each other up.

With some tweaks to gear I have no doubt that snow camping would be something regularly on the agenda in the winter. I have always hated winter growing up in Minnesota, but have a new found appreciation for the season this year. I know for sure this won't be my last snow camping trip.

3rd Burroughs Mountain Sunrise Hike

Location: Mt. Rainier

Miles: 9/ 2600 elevation gain

7 of us left Seattle at midnight to make it to the trailhead at 2 AM. As we arrived at the trailhead, the stars were nothing like I'd ever seen. They were so bright and numerous. I could stare at them all night. We had a destination to make though. It was in the 30's when we started the hike, so we all bundled up, but were not prepared for it to be this cold. I had a down puffer and hat and gloves on and was still miserably cold the entire time (until the sun came out). We took our time hiking up as we all thought we'd be waiting at the top in darkness for the sun to come up. This was not the case though as it slowly crept up even before 5 AM. As the light began to trickle over the mountains, it was like unwrapping a present as we had no idea what was around us during this hike. We saw our first group of mountain goats on the way up, the first I have seen in Washington! We donned our spikes and made it through a few snow fields, but they weren't bad at all. Caitlin and I pushed to the very top quickly, while the rest were just below the summit. At the top we saw more mountain goats on the trail and not very far away this time. Such a crazy thing to see. We joined with the rest of the group and rejoiced over prosecco. We were kind of deliriously tired at this point as most of us were working on relatively no sleep. We sat at the top a long time taking in the views and also procrastinating the journey back. The way back though was great because again we didn't see any of it on the way in really. We made it back to the trail head at 10:30 and then made our way to brunch. Another day of new friends, epic adventures, and memories with my favorite mountain.

Camp Muir- Base Camp of Mt. Rainier

Hike: Camp Muir

Location: Paradise, Mt. Rainier

Mileage/ Elevation: 8 miles/ 4,640

Last summer Ryan and I did the skyline loop trail on Mt. Rainier as the most amateur of amateur hikers. This hike is 5.5 miles and at the top you see the section where it splits off to go up to Camp Muir. At the time, this seemed like a mythical far off land where professional climbers went. As we have gotten into hiking this year Camp Muir had been on our list to accomplish, at some point. Ryan had 2 weekends left of the summer basically before having to work 4 weekends straight so I asked him what his priority was to do on those weekends and Camp Muir was one of them. Skeptically we prepared to go within a couple weeks time. I say skeptically because the weather needed to be absolutely perfect to go and we weren't even sure if we were (physically) ready. Well the weekend approached and the weather was looking good so we decided to do it. Camp Muir should never be attempted in non-favorable conditions as there is no clear trail and white outs can be deadly as people drift onto nearby glaciers. This hike is actually listed as one of the top 10 most deadly hikes.

First things to figure out where the accommodations regarding staying at Mt. Rainier at least the night before. This is no easy task in the summer and the options are quite limited. The park has 3 campgrounds and all the reservable sites go far in advanced and we would never make it to the walk up sites. I booked at Alder Lake Campground like I did the previous year for Friday night. It is an hour and a half from Seattle and an hour from Paradise. We didn't arrive at our campsite until 10:30 or so Friday (thank you surgery residency) and set up camp in the dark and went straight to bed. Well not me.. I was kept awake by the noisy campers partying. I would not recommend this campground unless it was last resort like it was for us. I wanted our wake up call to be 5 to be at the trailhead at 7 but Ryan assured me we did not need an hour to pack up camp in the morning so 5:30 it was. I was right and we would've been better off with that extra 30 minutes as we started on the trail at 8. At this time the parking lot was already quite full. Get here early to snag a spot.

The forecast had called for mostly sunny so we were a bit discouraged by the thick fog that devoured the mountain. We donned our gear and hit the trail. The beginning of the trail is paved and quite steep. Eventually it turns into dirt but we were surprised at about a mile in there was already snow and lots of it. There were stretches of snow on and off for awhile. At a bit before 2 miles you will see that cut off to Camp Muir that continues up while the Skyline Loop trail continues straight. It was now or never and this was really happening. We went up and crossed Pebble Creek (the last source of fresh water beyond melting snow). After this the snow was constant so we put on our micro-spikes (traction) and were happy to have gaiters to not get our pants wet or snow in our boots.

Here is some perspective of where Camp Muir lies on the mountain. It reaches 10,080 feet of the 14,416 feet.

It is here the real climb began as the endless snowfields and elevation gain were ruthless. I began to feel the altitude at about 7,500 feet. It seemed my heart rate was way higher than normal (for a hike) and my head started to hurt and I started to feel a bit queasy. On paper this hike doesn't seem that bad compared to many other in the state with similar stats. What is so different is the snow fields and altitude. That alone made it 100X harder than any other hike we have done. We were slowed down a lot by this but just kept setting landmark goals. "Get to that pile of rocks or beyond that hill and then can take a break." This was really how we made it to the top. I don't think I have ever stopped more or gone more slow on a hike. The altitude sickness subsided and the thought of reaching base camp gave me the extra push I needed to keep going.

Side note- people notoriously get sunburned on this hike because of the snow reflecting back on you. We applied sunscreen religiously 3-4 times throughout the hike including sunscreen chapstick. Don't forget a had and sunglasses with good coverage.

Once we were above the clouds we could see Mt. St. Helens, Adams, and even Mt. Hood in Oregon. That alone made this hike so spectacular and amazing. Every time I turned around I couldn't believe my eyes. We pressed on and set our sights on making it to 9,000 feet because then Camp Muir comes into sight. We came over a hill and I saw some wooden signs on a rock. Finally we could see the end in sight. That last 1,000 feet never seemed to end. At this time of the day the snow had become very sloppy and wet and was not fun to climb on as well. We pushed to the top and finally made it! I couldn't believe it. I was so proud of us. We actually made it to base camp of Rainier! The summit would only be 4,000 more feet. We conquered half of Rainier, it may have been the easier half, but still! We got to the top and collapsed on a rock amongst a huge party of people. It was super busy with day hikers and summiteers alike. Tents were set up everywhere for those going on to the summit the following day. There are different buildings ran by the guided groups to hold equipment and even a bunk house and toilets. The most awe inspiring was seeing the groups coming down who had just summited all roped up and filled with accomplishment. I have set my sights on summiting Rainier for awhile, but in this moment I knew that would be me. There was no question about that. If we could make it to base camp we could surly summit the whole thing (when conditioned to).

After an hour of snacking, relaxing, and soaking in the sun we decided to make the trek back down. The fastest and most optimal way to go down is to glissade. I had never done this before and looking at how steep some of the sections were I was down right scared to even try. When you are looking at these glissade shoots they are just long stretches of hollowed out snow were people have slid on their bumbs. We didn't have rain pants or garbage bags to sit on, but we sat on our rain coats and went for it. Since the snow was so wet we didn't go super fast on most of them, but we probably took 5-6 glissade shoots down and boy was it fun. New favorite way to get down a mountain! I ended up with soaking wet pants but it was worth it. We basically slipped and slidded down the mountain in seemingly no time. It was somewhere in here that I ran out of water. I had brought 2 litters and a big Gatorade. Thank goodness Ryan had a lot leftover or I would've been in big trouble. Being at high altitude dehydrates you like nothing else. We got to the lower skyline loop trail and it was packed with tourists enjoying the mountain. Oh, and we saw 4 marmots total! They are so cute and such a joy to run into. We even saw 2 of them wrestling it out. We made it to the bottom at 4:30. It took us 8 hours total with an hour at the top in there. We made it to the car and peeled all the soaking wet layers off of us.

We didn't have a campground booked for that night as they were booked up all around so we hoped to snag a last minute walk up.. I had 5 campgrounds on my list to check out going counter clockwise towards Sunrise. One after another was full and we were feeling hopeless on getting camping and the reality of just driving home was becoming clear. We were passing a sign that had a campground symbol so we pulled over fast to check it out. It said something about Horse campground meant for people with horses to camp there. This was not a campground ran by anything seemingly so we asked one of the 5 groups of campers what this was all about and if they had reservations. They said they just grabbed a sight so we did as well. We set up camp and finally relaxed with a beer after a long day. We were beyond exhausted so we went to sleep by 9PM. At about 2 AM I was abruptly woken by loud footsteps outside of our tent, a large shadow and some heavy breathing.... My heart immediately sunk as my mind went straight to BEAR. We were right outside of Mt. Rainier which has many bears and our food storage that night was not up to par at this make shift campsite. We kept our garbage bag with leftover food in our roof storage.. probably just smelly enough to lure any animal into our space. I could literally feel my pulse beating out of my chest as I panicked with what to do and if this was really happening. I woke Ryan up and whispered that I thought there was a bear outside of our tent.. his quick thinking was to set the car alarm off for about 10 seconds and then make a lot of noise after. We had the bear spray in hand and eventually took a look outside. We didn't see anything but we both had decided that we wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after that and did not want to be around when this possible bear came back to sniff around some more. We rushed and packed up the whole campsite within about 5 minutes and booked it out of there. Looking back this seems a little dramatic and we probably should've just slept in the car, but we were in bed by 4 AM so what ever. I don't play with bears. Proper food storage is very important and we learned a lesson that night.

This hike left me feeling so full and inspired. Mt. Rainier will always be my favorite. I can't wait to make it up that extra 4,000 feet someday.

The mountains are calling and I must go, always.

Tolmie Peak Lookout

Mt. Rainier National Park/ 6.5 Miles

Mt. Si

We put our mind to doing Mt. Si this weekend, not really sure if we were ready, but went for it anyways. Mt. Si is 8 miles roundtrip and 3150 elevation gain- the most we have done yet. We knew we had to get out there early to get a parking spot and avoid a stampede of crowds. We left Seattle at 7AM and got there a little before 8. The parking lots was over half full at this point. We started the hike just around 8. The way up was a continual grade that was exhausting and difficult. The hike is rated expert. There really isn't much to see at all on the way up, no look outs at all. We stopped to rest maybe 2-3 times just to catch our breath before going on. The trail was very well maintained with no trees down or anything. 2 hours and 7 minutes later we got to the top and it was stunning. I would not recommend this hike on a cloudy day because what would be the point? Mt. Rainier will always be my favorite and this hike gave us an up close and personal view of her. We sat and adventured around the top for about an hour. I really could've stayed up there all day it was so beautiful. Oh, and we ran into a group from Minnesota and Wisconsin and one of the guys graduated in my husbands med school class and is a resident at UW. Such a small world. At the top there is a haystack that gets you 200 feet higher, but it is very advanced scrambling and we were not looking to die this day. We made our way down in 1 hour 30 minutes. After this hike we feel like we are ready for Mailbox. Won't be able to attempt it for awhile, but we're coming for ya.