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.

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*

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.

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*