A Perfect Day Snowshoeing in the Mountain

Today we celebrated President’s Day and so I did not have to go to work. The sky was perfectly blue without a cloud to be seen. It was a perfect winter day for Seattle or any place for that matter. Rosie and I decided we would go snowshoeing up by Crystal Mountain. We couldn’t talk any of the children into going with us and did they ever miss out. It was one of my best days ever in the mountains in the winter months. We started just below Crystal and rather quickly climbed into some steep terrain, mostly hugging the tree line as there is still some avalanche danger. The snow on the way up was a bit hard and icy but when we got higher and the sun hit the snow and melted it a little it became soft and better for snow shoeing.

As we climbed the views became marvelous with Mount Rainier and Mount Adams the two biggest treats. We climbed about 3,000 feet and were on the mountain about four hours in total and only saw three other people – one backcountry snowboarder and a couple that was skiing. It was as if we had the whole mountain to our selves. The temperature was in the mid forties and all I needed was a long sleeve tee shirt because we were working hard as we climbed. Portions of our trek were extremely steep – almost scary steep (Note the photo above with Rosie climbing the steep ridge). We were tempted to turn around but kept going and were rewarded with some truly magnificent views and a wonderful sense of accomplishment. It is impressive that a mother of eight who is fifty years old could make a climb like that. However, in the spirit of full disclosure I must say that we both are a bit sore this evening. (Click on the pictures to make them larger and get a full appreciation for the scenery)