A Cold Night on Mazama Ridge

I know I'm probably over doing it with five snowshoes in seven weeks; what's gotten into me? It's never really been my thing, but I keep falling down the rabbit hole. Before you know it, I'm going to be making a snow cave!

Though it was not my intention to do another snow camp this season...November's adventure seemed like it would be enough "hypothermia mico-dosing" for awhile. (That's actually a thing, even though I'm just trying to be funny.) But Beth reached out saying she was itching to get out there, and how could I resist a trip with Beth? 

She suggested going to the same place we went last time, but as a general rule I don't re-do hikes. Too many trails and too little time. I suggested Rainier, since I miraculously didn't cheap out at Crater Lake and got the $80 America the Beautiful Pass instead of the $15 day pass. So you know now I have to get my money's worth. 

When she said she'd never actually been inside the national park, the deal was sealed. But which hike? It didn't take much internet searching to uncover lots of options, so I just focused on whatever folks were saying was "the best." If this was going to be Beth's first visit, it had better be epic!

Let me tell you, Mazama Ridge lived up to it's reputation and then some. Of course having two bluebird days helped out a lot, except the temps were even lower than we bargained for. I can't say for sure how low it got, but Beth's Garmin made the weirdest sound to notify it was "too cold." She looked up how cold it has to get for it to make that pathetic little whimper, and it's 10 degrees. 

That may be slighter warmer than Crater Lake's micro-dose, but it actually felt much colder. I guess it's true that dry cold is better. Still, I thought I was more prepared this time...I even bought a free standing tent to make things easier. Plus even MORE warmers, and an electric hand warmer to boot!

I'm sure it was on sale because it's white. What a dumb color for a tent! But I do like it. Mountain Hardware - such a random buy for me.

But I was still struggling to feel warm...meanwhile, I could hear Beth snoozing next door. Her secret? I guess I really do need to invest in a zero degree bag. (Mine is 15, so almost, but not quite.) And also maybe a "Honcho Poncho" as an extra blanket, though I don't think I could rock this look like Beth does. 

Ugh, I'm going to go broke falling down this rabbit hole. Anyway, a detailed itinerary is below like always. Happy "time to buy all the things" trails! 

Trail Log:

Day 1: Got to the Nisqually Entrance (only way to get in during winter months) at 11 am and only had to wait a couple minutes.

There is no timed entry from September to May, so that's a plus. Got our permits at Longmire from the slowest moving attendant in history--I think it's usually $10 per person but we got it free because he couldn't get the computer to cooperate. Permits are pretty much unlimited in the winter so you don't have to fight for them, so another plus. A hard sided container is needed to store your food because of small critters, and also this is a Wag Bag area. The good news is you can dispose of them on your way out at the bathroom tunnel bathrooms at Paradise.

Whoever made it so they had to put up the "keep the lid closed" sign...you are a dumb ass!!

You start the hike where they stop plowing the road - just past Paradise Inn. It's a well compacted walk for about a mile until you turn onto the actual trail.

From there it's about a mile with a 500 foot gain until you crest a hill. (video) I used my crampons up until this point. From here you need snowshoes and navigation. We went down just about a quarter mile until we found our spot and had our tents all set up by 3 pm. Then we set off with day packs, determined to get to the view point ending and ended up getting a little off track (video) because there are several misleading tracks and we ended up on one that petered out, but eventually we still made it.

Making our own way to Faraway rock

We made it back to our tents just as the sun was setting which was absolutely stunning. (video) Then it was as if someone closed the freezer door, the temps changed so quickly. Even though I had my bag warming up with my electric warmer in it, I still felt on the edge of being cold until morning - even after sticking warmers on myself all throughout the night. A total of 4 miles with about a thousand gain for the day. 

Day 2: I was awake for the sunrise, and opened both doors for the views.

I tried to manage my water, but it still ended up freezing (video) so I took some time thawing it carefully in my Jetboil. FYI, my old Zip Jetboil (the cheapest one) worked reasonably well in the temps while Beth's more expensive "winter" Jetboil Minimo completely failed. (It's actually only rated to 20 degrees! Alaskans would scoff!) Anyway, we only had the 2 miles back to the car and thought we might hit Alta Vista or another short trail out of Paradise, but we were pooped.

Paradise Inn is very much closed in winter, FYI

We did throw in the .7 mile loop of Trail of the Shadows which is across from Longmire. Interesting history there and well worth the stop. Leaving at around 1 pm we saw the line going in was at least a half mile long, so sometime before noon seems be the sweet spot this time of year if you are planning a visit.

Our stuffies wanted to soak in this hot springs relic, but it really wasn't warm