Hiking Mt Rainier Kilted

[Oldhiker]

I have lived out here in the NW 20+ years and the snow line varys quite a bit from year to year. Some years it takes forever to get the trails snow free, others earlier. This was an early year. There have been recent years the area you visited were under snow the 1st of july.

It is the glaciers we have to watch, they have had a steady decline since I have been here. The difference is snow versus ICE on the glaciers.

my picture was about 5 years ago, hair was still kinda grey and not white. haha

[Arlen]

Gorgeous pictures.
Looks like you lot had a really wonderful time.

[Andrew Breecher]

Andrew. How long ago were your pics taken? I find it startling how much the "permanent" snow pack & glaciers have receded, as your pics well illustrate.

My photo is from about this time last year.

When I climbed Rainier, it was in the early summer, and there was snowfield all the way to Camp Muir from Paradise. Usually by the end of the summer there's no snow at all, all the way up to the glaciers at Camp Muir.

I was impressed & a bit surprised by how much Mt Rainier stands out from its surroundings. There's other mountains nearby, but nothing even close in height. It's quite dramatic.

Each of the volcanic mountains in Oregon and Washington are similar: Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker (I know I left out a few). On my hike last year I walked past (and/or partially over) Shasta, Hood, Adams, Rainier, and Glacier, and it was amazing to see each of them from completely three sides (front, side, back). They were all quite stunning, but I have to say that Glacier Peak, which I walked around through the Glacier Peak Wilderness which has no bridges, and the trail is no longer maintained, was my favourite, simply because of the ruggedness of the land I crossed to see it:


Andrew.

[Big Paul]

Awesome pics!