1-22-2010 Mild Mostly Sunny January Day in Edith Creek Basin – Paradise

1-22-2010 Mild Mostly Sunny January Day in Edith Creek Basin – Paradise – Mt. Rainier

January 25th, 2010

Edith Creek Basin

On this nice day in January without heavy clouds covering the mountain, we drove up to Paradise at 5400 feet elevation to spend a day snowshoeing in the Edith Creek Basin area. There is plenty of snow at Paradise where the park has made two fast sledding runs and a shorter run for the children located on the slope above the main snow entrance. However, this year – so far – this winter is quite different from the previous past two winters with not a patch of snow seen at Longmire at elevation 3,200 feet. The first significant snow we saw was past Longmire at Cougar Rock Campground where we have often enjoyed snowshoeing or cross country skiing in and around the five campground loops among the old growth trees. However, this year, there were only patches of snow at the campground. There was plenty of snow at Narada Falls higher up the Nisqually Road closer to Paradise. Lots of people have been skiing or snowshoeing to Reflection Lake from Narada Falls.

On this mild winter day it was thirty seven degrees at Paradise without a hint of a breeze. The sun was shinning but high clouds prevented one of the special winter blue sky days. The snow was soft, light and nice for snowshoeing so we quickly forgot about seeing the deep blue sky. Edith Creek Basin area is off to the right after going up the main snow path from the parking lot. Since it hadn’t snowed recently there was a well worn snow trail to follow that went in front of the closed Paradise Inn and around the corner heading toward the mountain and the bridge across Edith Creek. This area is wide open and when it snows or there is a low cloud cover it’s easy to get disoriented with few trees and white in all directions. Therefore, this day was perfect for enjoying the easy trek through the basin under mostly clear skies. The views are unique here with graceful rolling slopes in front of Mount Rainier softly framing it. This is a place to wander away from the snow path and enjoy untracked snow or travel back to the steeper slopes surrounding the basin. The steep hills are often not safe to climb due to avalanche danger, so unless experienced in avalanche awareness, do not climb. Simply enjoy the beauty of these high ridges in Edith Creek Basin. When the skies are clear, Edith Creek Basin offers strikingly beautiful views of the Tatoosh Range to the south and Mount Rainier in all its glory to the north. This scenery will quickly clear your mind of city stresses and transports you into a peaceful winter wonderland. I hope you will enjoy the photos posted from this trip and will be able to experience Edith Creek Basin for yourself this winter.