Rampart Ridge at Mt. Rainier

I had an amazing last-minute adventure this weekend - Adrienne organized a one-day, one-night trip to Mt. Rainier, to hike up Rampart Ridge. We left Friday night after dinner to drive the 2.5 hours up, slept in the sweet, old-school Alexander Lodge just outside the park, woke up and drove to Longmire, and hiked a 5 mile loop in the snow. We had packed snowshoes but ended up leaving them in the car. There was very little snow on the lower part of the hike and at the top the trail was completely hard-packed. The weather was absolutely amazing for January - warm and clear blue skies. We were finished with the hike by 12, ate some lunch, and drove home. I even made it in time for Liesl's first basketball game!

 elk tracks in the snow

 At the top of Rampart Ridge, with Mt. Rainier staring us in the face. Amazing.

some very hungry, or perhaps just very aggressive, birds