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| Looking down the Snowfield from Camp Muir. Note the surface conditions. |
It's been a slow start to the summer season, the stellar high pressure has yet to arrive and temperatures have fluctuated all over the place. Sadly, the unusually cool temperatures for the last couple weeks were not enough to help the lower mountain recover from the record high temperatures in spring. The snow pack at Paradise is sitting at about 3% of normal for July 5th (about 1 inch instead of the normal 38 inches).
The trails at Paradise are mostly clear until shortly before Glacier Vista. Then the snow gets patchy--and continues to be so until just past Pebble Creek, where it becomes all snow. Please be careful to step off the snow onto trail. Our beautiful alpine meadows easily get trampled during this transition period and Panorama Face is seeing severe erosion from people cutting corners.
And in terms of the skiing...well, don't come with high expectations and maybe consider leaving the skis at home. The sun cups are growing and there is a nice, thin, consistent dirt layer from Camp Muir down to Pebble Creek that will sandpaper the wax off your base. However, boot glissading is in its prime season now. It sure is nice to cut that extra weight off your feet this time of year and go light up to Muir. Don't forget to enjoy the view on your breaks.
Please remember, that weather changes fast up here on Rainier and the snowfield can quickly become socked in. Despite the boot track and things melting out, it is easy to become disoriented and lost on the snowfield when you are in a cloud. Please come with at least a GPS to navigate these conditions.
