Winter Hiking PicturesMt

Mt. Rainier
Paradise, April 1999

The Winter of 1998-1999 produced record snow falls for the Cascades in Washington and Oregon. Although this winter produced only the second most snow ever recorded at Mt. Rainier, nearby area records were shattered. I visited Mt. Rainier 2 consecutive weekends in April, 1999. At this time the Park Service was reporting 23 feet of snow on the ground, and about 1100 inches of total snowfall this season. I took the following pictures as I spent the days tromping around on my snow shoes and XC skiing on some of the snow-covered roads.

National Park Lodge covered in snow at Paradise. Note the machinery at right excavating the lodge.

Paradise parking lot, at roads end.

Paradise Valley

Could not decide if I should snowshoe or XC ski so I did both.

The staked trail to Reflection Lake.

National Park Lodge, 1 week later, different side.

Looking South over the parking lot

Mt. Rainier Ranger Station

Although avalanche danger was high, few paid attention as they made this cut. Be careful! There were several avalanche fatalaties in Washington this Winter.

The road to Paradise