The Road to Paradise

It was a long bloody battle but my gallantry has paid off and I have been provided with lodging at the Guide House in Paradise. I have done a lot of hiking in the last week. I hiked up to Pebble Creek which is just below the Muir snowfield last Thursday and was rewarded with a 2nd degree sunburn that made my upper lip swell to the size of a small marble even with sunscreen and a hat. The sun reflecting off the snow is one of the great dangers of hiking on the glaciers. I will be buying SPF 150 today while I am out and about in town. I am optimistic that we will be experiencing summer soon. Last week, I was driven to work in a significant snowstorm on JUNE 10!!! We had 6" of snow fall at Longmire where I work at the gift shop. Are you kidding me? Paradise received another 12'' and had already had a foot of snow fall three days before that. Today, June 19th, the sun shines fo the 5th day in a row so I have seen the mountain 5 days in a row as well. I have not seen the mountain for more than 2 days in a row since I arrived to work at Mt. Rainier 6 weeks ago. It is a monumental change in weather that I hope becomes the trend. Tuesday after work I hiked Rampart Ridge at Longmire which is a 5.5 mile loop trail that links to the Wonderland trail on the backside. Yesterday, I blazed a trail from Paradise six miles down to Longmire by following the Paradise River. There is normally a trail from Paradise to Longmire but it is still covered in 5 feet of snow. Today, I am a lame horse and happy to be off the Mountain and loafing around town.