the 1st snowshoeing of the season...

Monday I had the day off, so I headed to Mt. Rainier to have a go at the snow. This was my first time snowshoeing since April or early May, and I was jonesing to be outdoors...

Why do I enjoy snowshoeing so much?
It's quiet. It's peaceful. It's good exercise. It's beautiful. It's away. It's a different world.

There were 10 inches of fresh snow on the mountain when I arrived, but the roads were cleared pretty well all the way up to Paradise.
The sun wanted to shine,,,,The sky began to clear, and my hopes of a nice mountain view increased:These whisps of cloud were pretty neat when the fog finally lifted:It's christmas for like 6 months on this mountain...How cool is this? The clouds spreading off the southeast side of the mountain, covering the valley below: The mounatin and me:The clouds re-covered the mountain as I began my decent... The snow covering everything is incredibly beautiful, I think. The path down:
I listened to all-Christmas radio the whole way back to Olympia. It was a great day.