This past Sunday I made it up to the Paradise side of Mount Rainier. It was a beautiful sunny day. You definitely needed sunscreen and sun glasses. We spent the day snowshoeing up to Panorama Point, where we got excellent vista views of Mount Adams, Mount St Helens, and Mount Hood. It is avalanche season so we had to be a little careful, especially of cornices and tree wells. We heard a pretty big avalanche falling way up above 9000 feet elevation. Overall, it was a great way to spend a sunny day (except I did get a little sunburned).

I love the winters in the PNW because I love snow, but it’s also really nice to be able to go to the snow and not actually live in it day in and day out. Case in point, when we returned to Olympia is was sunny and in the upper 60s. It’s always fun to go play in the snow in March but its also really nice to come home to what feels like summer.

View from Mt Rainier (look closely and you can see Mt St Helens and Mt Adams!)