Last Sunday I was rudely awakened by an overzealous husband who was on a mission to make it to Paradise by sunrise - an area of Mount Rainier National Park with beautiful views. We left the house at 4:30am but didn't quite make it all the way as it was farther than we thought, but Mike did get some awesome pictures. 
We spent the day making the climb to Camp Muir (10,000'). It's the base camp where people who climb The Mountain spend the night before making the trip to the top. It was 4.5 miles up the side of the mountain gaining 4600' of elevation. Half of that was on snow. You literally took one step forward and then slid one half a step back. With the high elevation and steepness we would take like 20 steps and then need to stop and catch our breath. We made it to Muir around 11 just as last nights climbers were on they way back down from the summit.
After a short break on the windy western ridge we headed back down. It took us 4 hours to get up to Muir but only 2 hours to get back down. It was so steep that it was easier to slide down on our butts than try to walk down. Total wildlife count for the trip was 1 fox, 2 elk, 4 deer, 1 marmot, 4 chipmunks and countless hawks and small birds. Despite it being the most difficult hike I have ever done, it was well worth the breathtaking views!!!We got back to the apartment and headed for the hot tub with a few beers in tow. Once we were nice and toasty we made beef carnitas for dinner. What a great day!
*Pictures*
*Landscapes*
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3 comments:
I love these photos! You have a great eye!
I can hardly believe how hard core you guys are now. Didn't I see some slopes like that in that Mount Everest coffee table book you have ...?
I forgot to say that my favorite part of the story was the getting-back-home-and-relaxing-in-the-hot-tub-with-beers part. You better be careful, or those of us who read your blog might think that you're on a permanent vacation up there in Seattle. Nowhere in these blog entries do you mention a job of any sort...
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