Snow Desert

I stopped for respite in the only shade on the mountain
for about 15 minutes until my marrow cooled from the boiling
point.

Man, you just gotta love the weather here on The Mountain. One thing is for sure The Mountain will never breed monotony. A week ago today, last Monday, May 4 it snowed and continued for three days straight. Then, this weekend was an absolutely stunning weekend with the sun blazing down on the white, pristine Mountain. I went hiking up to Alta Vista (5950ft) on Sunday. You would think I was hiking in the Saraha Desert it was so god damn hot! I actually almost turned around within minutes of starting b/c I was sweating to death. The sun was beating on me from the sky and reflecting off the snow. A dangerous combo. Of course, I was wearing sunscreen but still managed to get a funky looking burn down the front of my neck. AND, Today, I went for a 1/2 mile walk around the parking lot in a Blizzard! The wind was blowing so hard the snow was stinging my face. By the time I turned around, 10 minutes later, it had mellowed out to barely a flurry. So, basically, it is either snowing or blazing sun here at Mount Rainier. Gotta love it. No, really... Gotta LOVE it!!