Our fearless group, framing the words of John Muir
Mt. Rainier, get ready to be conquered!
Today I accomplished a great feat. I climbed Mt. Rainier. We started at Paradise (5,280 feet) and hiked to Panorama Point (6,980 feet) where we had an incredible view of Mt. Smith, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helen's. The trail was covered in snow; I'd say that 5% of the hike was on dry ground. I was so proud of my Keens- my socks were dry when I got down....my pants, however, were soaked....that's because Ellen and I decided to take the short way back down to Paradise, sitting on plastic bags and sliding down all the hills.
Steve, a group member who teaches 5th grade in Florissant gave me a great lesson on glaciers. There was so much I didn't know! I can't wait to share all my new knowledge with my students when we begin our lesson on bodies of water.
As you can imagine, I was pretty worn out when I got back down from the mountain. After changing my clothes, I had to buy a souvenir. I purchased a jacket with "Mount Rainier" printed on it. Normally I'm not big on location souvenirs, but I wanted something besides my sunburn to remember my hike.
At dinner I enjoyed a Washington brewed beer and feasted on buffalo meatloaf. This really was the best day of my life. One day I'd love to make a complete summit and touch the top...but I'm pretty satisfied with my current accomplishment. When I see the overnight hikers heading back to base, I can't help but think they are so cool! Maybe one day...maybe.
I could get used to this mountain-woman thing.
Mt. St. Helens (Where the other half of our group visited today)
Sliding down hills like this helped cut our time down the mountain in half
I bet that was fun!
ReplyDeletethat looks cool
ReplyDeleteThat was probably really fun!!!!
ReplyDelete