September 21, 2003, Tatoosh
9/21/03
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2972
3
September is my anniversary month. As of yesterday, its been 24 consecutive months. I have to say, however, this may not be a long-term affair. When I woke up on Sunday morning, doubts shrieked across my mind. I could stay at home reading the paper in bed. I should stay at home home helping my wife prepare for the imminent arrival of our first baby. There is no fresh snow. This is not really skiing. In her slumber, my wife mumbled: Go. It might rain next weekend. If you dont go, youre not going to be happy. With that endorsement, I dispatched the doubts and hoofed it up to Paradise.
The scene at Paradise was grim. I have never seen the snowfield look so decayed. Lots of hikers wandering around in the crimson and gold colored flora. The usual arrogance of the rangers. I looked South and decided a return to the Tatoosh was in order. Upon my arrival, I decided to avoid the trail that leads to the Gap and followed what I thought was a climbers trail. Thirty minutes later, I learned that I was following a bears trail and getting closer as fresh scat replaced the mud in my tevas. It didnt matter. I soon hit the tarn that was sucking the Pinnacle dry. Excitement further replaced the doubts as I hopscotched up the Pinnacle and boots replaced the tevas. 10 turns and the whistles of a few marmots later, September was on the books. ;D As for October, avoid the Tatoosh. The Paradise Glacier still looks like the best option if you have the whole day. Onward.
The scene at Paradise was grim. I have never seen the snowfield look so decayed. Lots of hikers wandering around in the crimson and gold colored flora. The usual arrogance of the rangers. I looked South and decided a return to the Tatoosh was in order. Upon my arrival, I decided to avoid the trail that leads to the Gap and followed what I thought was a climbers trail. Thirty minutes later, I learned that I was following a bears trail and getting closer as fresh scat replaced the mud in my tevas. It didnt matter. I soon hit the tarn that was sucking the Pinnacle dry. Excitement further replaced the doubts as I hopscotched up the Pinnacle and boots replaced the tevas. 10 turns and the whistles of a few marmots later, September was on the books. ;D As for October, avoid the Tatoosh. The Paradise Glacier still looks like the best option if you have the whole day. Onward.
Congrats on the new baby!! Hopefully your baby will plan his/her arrival well before a big dump of new snow ;D
Nice to read about your Sept turns, and TAY anniversary month, I'm sure you were glad to get those knocked out before to much longer.
That still leaves some of us still contemplating where and what to do about October, in the meantime we are hiking and finding lots of great options for this winter.
Nice to read about your Sept turns, and TAY anniversary month, I'm sure you were glad to get those knocked out before to much longer.
That still leaves some of us still contemplating where and what to do about October, in the meantime we are hiking and finding lots of great options for this winter.
Congrads on your 2 year anniversary, Raven.
And thanks for the report on the pinnacle.
That's always been one of our late season "standbys" and I was wondering if there was anything left up there to ski.
And thanks for the report on the pinnacle.
That's always been one of our late season "standbys" and I was wondering if there was anything left up there to ski.
Nice job on the streak and baby! I've managed to keep my streak going through 2 babyhoods, and it is manageable (after all, it only takes one trip per month). A great thing is that your kids start learning about the mountains, backcountry, snow, and skiing from an early age bacause they hear about those things all the time, and they will probably start begging to go on a ski trip from an early age. My daughter and I have been doing an overnight bc ski trip every spring for 5 years now, starting when she was 5, and she loves it - eating snow, digging in snow, and, of course, skiing. This past July 31 I led both kids (9 and 6) up to the lower Paradise Glacier valley on a beautiful warm day and they had a blast skiing around on the abundant low-angle snow. On the hike up they kept thinking that our destination was the tiny snow patches they could see, and were amazed when we entered the snow-filled valley. Have fun - with the streak and the baby!
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