Sunrise at Paradise

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We’ve been suffering through a serious heatwave here in the PNW, and in the Yakima Valley the daily highs have been 105°+ for the last 7 days straight. Yep, *torrid* is a perfect word to describe this heat, Cliff. My cousin Justin called me and let me know that he and his climbing partner Ryan were driving up from Colorado to climb Mt Rainier (Tahoma) in a single push(!). So, I gathered my gear and made wy way out to Paradise on the south side of the mountain. My plan was to get an alpine start on a pre-dawn hike up Skyline Trail to meet them on their way down.

Justin sent me an inReach message that they had just summited at 2200 that night, so I left my campsite at 0130 and drove up the switchbacks to Paradise. Heading up the Skyline trail at 0300, it was a new moon, you could clearly see the headlamps of climbers up high, and the Milky Way was visible in high fidelity. Eventually, I just turned off my headlamp and let my eyes adjust to the ambient surroundings, to fully immerse in the experience.

I recently got an iPhone 13 mini and am falling more and more in love with its night mode option on the camera.

I’m amazed at how it can detect the stars, outlines of features…even without the use of a tripod. It’s one of my favorite new features of the device in a very long time.

I hiked up to McClure Rock from Paradise, then scrambled further higher on the Sugarloaf, reaching close to 8,000’. The twilight was filling in and I found a rest spot to enjoy the lightshow. What surprised me most about this quick trip is the beauty of the Tatoosh Range, located south of Mt Rainier and in direct sightline of Mt Adams. The range is rugged and steep, with lingering snowfields that gave them an appreciated definition that I won’t soon forget.

I met Justin and Ryan in the middle of Muir Snowfield on their descent and walked with them all the way back to their car. For them, summiting Rainier was an experience they will never forget. For me, this morning was another bookmark in my Peakbagger log and a great way to slow down and soak in Tahoma’s beautiful vistas.

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