It's a long drive, but holy cow is it worth it. We rolled into Paradise shortly after the gate opened. Blue skies and white snow. It was amazing just being in the parking lot. But of course we didn't stay in the parking lot.
We were heading up to Panorama Point as the first waypoint on the best loop in a snow-covered Park. The way was well trod by all the other adventurers climbing to the Point. The first section was easy walking. Then the route turned steeply up. The skiers all floundered before taking off their skis. The snowshoers couldn't fit their feet into the kicked steps. Since we were packing our snowshoes, our wee tootsies fit into the steps easily.
Not that it was super exciting. Except when you looked around. The Mountain was resplendent cloaked in white. The sun was warm enough we climbed in t-shirts. And there I was wearing actual pants instead of my usual shorts. That's poor planning for sure.
Panorama Point doesn't allow for a descent to the east so we climbed a bit higher to Golden Gate trail down into the Edith Creek drainage. There was a steep snow slope, but the snow was hard. I was too cautious to glissade from up high. We descended a bit and I finally got brave. ZOOOOOOM! Heck of a ride down.
HOS sat and prepared to take off. From way down below, I heard him cry out. I looked up to see his glove gaining speed as it slid down the icy slope. Thankfully, I had slid down the fall line and the glove followed the same path. It came right to me. Two other adventurers high on the ridge cheered.
Once back together, we followed the ridge over the basin. We looped around and then dropped down into the valley. The snow got softer as we descended, but we never needed snowshoes. They were mere training weight. And we got a little more training lugging them back up to the parking lot.
We've done this loop three times. Every time it's great. 10/10. No notes. But maybe don't bother with snowshoes. Unless you're in training.
📍 On the lands of the spuyaləpabš (Puyallup) people.
