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Looking south from Anvil Rock (9584’), MRNP

Looking south from Anvil Rock (9584’), MRNP

MRNP: Anvil Rock (9584')

March 21, 2020 by Stephen Burgess
Lineup for Paradise gate opening

Lineup for Paradise gate opening

Warmed up from my Cowlitz Rocks skin/ski a few days ago, I hit the snow with a full 1.5 liter bottle spiked with Tailwind this time, heading up the familiar Muir Snowfield to tag Anvil Rock (9584’). I know I took my daughter by here when she was 16 but figured I’d make it official. My scramble guide to Mt. Rainier suggested not trying to stand on the rock that marks the peak, instead tagging it with one’s pole. If you consider the sheer drop on the other side and the crumbly nature of Rainier’s makeup, it sounded like a prudent idea to me.

Take a Saturday with incredible weather, add in the spiking effect of Coronavirus with social distancing and shutdowns galore (meaning people are getting outside probably more than ever), and tweak the mix with free entry to the park, and one gets a bloated parking lot. The whole trip up the snowfield had specks of humans booting, skinning and snow shoeing in nicely spaced lines for the better part of the day. Everywhere I turned the specks were visible both high and low. However, with so much open space it was quite easy to have your own bubble. I opted to boot up Panorama Point as I saw some skiers having difficulty skinning. Besides, there is always a nice boot track here making it easy peasy. It looked like party time at the top with people taking a break and paying homage to the malignant sun god. I snapped a few pics and continued up the remaining short steep two steps to the gentler terrain above. After this it was shush shush shush goes the skins for some time. I broke off from the main thoroughfare, making my own track to the right to position myself for Anvil.

Anvil Rock (9584’) visible from the snowfield above Panorama Point

Anvil Rock (9584’) visible from the snowfield above Panorama Point

I found a nice bit of rock to take a break about 500’ below Anvil, eating some chow and quaffing my liquid. I had noticed some chaffing on my Hoji’s (inside ankle side) from my prior trip, so I shed the boots to take a look. I applied some mole skin and changed to thicker socks and this seemed to alleviate the problem, at least until I took the mole skin off in the shower at home. The layer of skin that came with it raised an eyebrow to say the least. From the rocks it was a short skin to just below the summit rock of Anvil, where I found a flat spot to stash the skis. Low angled soft snow made an easy jaunt to the summit rock where I placed my pole atop the top. Tag! Nice views here to while away a few minutes, and far enough off the main route to enjoy solitude whilst watching the ants, noticeably slower now with the higher elevation.

Nisqually icefall

Nisqually icefall

I configured for the downhill, somewhat dreading the conditions. However, it turns out the crud at 9000’ wasn’t nearly as bad as what I encountered below Cowlitz Rocks and was quite manageable. In fact, as I proceeded lower the skiing became less survival and more glidal, with pretty good soft spring conditions all the way to Paradise. Maybe a little choppy in places but fun nonetheless. The steep slope below Panorama point was doable without traversing and was over in short order with tight turns. After that it was cruising to the parking lot, now packed to the gills with people everywhere. I even passed a group in lounge chairs with tables adorned with beer. I weaved through the parking lot to my car staying 15’ from everyone and did the pack up chores….drying the skis, pouring coffee, eating a peanut butter cookie; the usual stuff. Light traffic had me home in short order and my wife treated me to a salmon dinner. Welcome to retirement.

Looking towards Camp Muir from Anvil Rock

Looking towards Camp Muir from Anvil Rock

March 21, 2020 /Stephen Burgess
peak bagging mt rainier, mt rainier anvil rock
Little Tahoma from Glacier Gap, MRNP

Little Tahoma from Glacier Gap, MRNP

MRNP: Cowlitz Rocks

March 19, 2020 by Stephen Burgess

One of the things an at-risk 65 Y/O newly minted retiree can do in today’s crazy virulent world is recreate outside. Real easy to keep social distance in the great outdoors. I departed with after-hike snacks and a thermos of coffee for Mt. Rainier National Park to tag another peak on the 100 list and get some fresh air. Traffic was light on the 2 hour drive and the park kiosk was unmanned. The gate from Longmire to Paradise usually opens at 9 so I timed my trip to be there accordingly. Normally I would get there earlier and have breakfast at the Inn, but at the moment there isn’t too much normal going around. The Paradise parking lot had a few cars and most of the people mulling about were skiers with a smattering of snow shoers (the sno-play area was shut down). The round trip to the Cowlitz Rocks is under 8 miles and I kept this in mind when I discovered (already on trail) I had left my liquid replenishment at home in the fridge. I determined that by frequently eating snow on the way, I could keep overwhelming thirst at bay and salvage the trip. For this outing I decided to pack my skis vice snowshoes. I knew the terrain was low angle and didn’t expect any good skiing, but I liked the thought of skinning with the chance of a few turns on the way back.

Caution, ski traps

Caution, ski traps

I had visited this area on October 4, 2017 so had an idea of the terrain. To access I hiked down the closed Paradise Valley road a short distance to where the parking area hid under the snow. As expected, there was a good snow shoe track leading up to Mazama Ridge, where I took to skinning on gentle terrain. The path to the Cowlitz Rocks essentially runs next to Stevens Creek, buried by feet of snow. The going was rather toasty in these snow bowls and I throttled back a bit to preclude too much sweating, what with my liquid dumbassery. I shed my pack and skis at Glacier Gap for the final ascent, at first sinking up to my knees in snow but eventually finding my way to crappy frozen scree and rocks, always a pleasure to climb in ski boots. When the rocks ran out and I looked to the actual summit rock ahead and 20 feet above me, I decided not to risk booting up the slightly frozen 30 degree slope with no ice axe. No sense risking a tumble into the rocks below on my first outing after retiring, that would be poor form indeed. So there, I’ve fessed up but still counting it.

Nearing my high point; Glacier Gap upper right; you can spot my skis and pack below

Nearing my high point; Glacier Gap upper right; you can spot my skis and pack below

Needless to say the views were “incredible, tremendous”. Nothing quite like an outing with complete solitude (once I departed the snow shoe track). There’s also nothing like trying to ski through a slightly warmed 3 inch thick crust with powder underneath. Sometimes backcountry skiing can be a humbling experience, considering I was shushing down the black diamonds at Crystal just two weeks before. I’m surprised I stayed upright. Somehow I managed a few turns and was actually grateful to put the skins back on for the rest of the trip back, sometimes skiing down sections with the skins. Higher speeds on skins sound really cool.

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland

Finally back at my vehicle, I cracked open a soda water and poured my still hot coffee while my skis were drying on the macadam. There were maybe 15-20 vehicles in the lot, attended by skiers coming back from their runs down the Muir snowfield. I leisurely packed up and enjoyed the downhill in my Prius C, clocking 99.9 MPG for quite a distance out of the park until it came back to 81 MPG when I filled up in Graham. Nice. After copious Purelling before touching anything I enjoyed the light traffic during what would be a normal rush hour all the way home. May we live in interesting times. Stats: 7.8 miles/2400’

Mt. Adams and part of the Tatoosh range to the south

Mt. Adams and part of the Tatoosh range to the south

View from the Paradise parking lot

View from the Paradise parking lot

March 19, 2020 /Stephen Burgess
peak bagging mt rainier, cowlitz rocks mt rainier
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