So yesterday, I went back up by myself. Left the house about 4:30 and was at Paradise about 6:10. Within a few minutes, I had my gear together and was on the trail...
This is the view looking back to where I was had come from. The Paradise Inn and Ranger Station are about a mile back down from here. I had aspirations of being on the trail before the sun came up but I am very, very glad that I wasn't. It was about 50 as I set out and temps didn't change until I was on the descent of my hike, some 90+ minutes later. Not getting on the trail until the sun was rising turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I caught some elk grazing on the summer grass several times along the route.
The trails on this part of the mountain start at around 5400 feet above sea level. As the crow flies, the jump off point is only about 75 miles from our house. It takes about 2 hours to get there because the last 30-40 miles is winding roads with severe twists and turns. When the road signs say "20 MPH" on the curve, they mean it. Once you enter the Nisqually entrance, there's a significant elevation change up to Paradise and it's the kind of road Ferrari owners dream of.
And then you get up to Panorama Point at about 6900 feet above sea level...
Mt. Adams is off to the left in the background. Barely visible about 1/3 of the way from the left in the extreme distance is Mt. Hood way down across the Columbia in Oregon. Mt. St. Helens is the small bump in the distance on the right. It was an absolutely glorious morning. I'm already planning my next few hikes. Don't know if I'll take the same route again because the Park has miles and miles of trails. But I do know that I'll be out there again within then next few weeks.
2 comments:
GREAT pictures!!
These pictures are really incredible!
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