A Pretty Problem To Have

We arrived at Paradise in Mt Rainier National Park for our hike up to Camp Muir yesterday at about 8 AM. I put on my boots and grabbed my pack. I put my arms through the shoulder straps and grabbed the waist belt, snapped the buckle and tightened the straps and SNAP!

My buckle broke. As you can sort of see there was an attempt to jury rig the thing with a zip tie, but there was no fixing it. Mind you I have every other buckle spare in my repair kit, but no extra waist strap buckles. I was NOT going up to Camp Muir. I was NOT happy.

Luckily my better 2/3rds, Pam to most of you, had a clearer head and suggested we at least take our water and camera and check out the wildflowers around Paradise. I rigged up a strap for the camera bag since it usually just gets attached to my pack and off we went. Our total hike/nature walk at Paradise was about 6 miles and resulted in over 300 pictures on 2 memory cards from my camera.

Here is a fine sampling of what we saw.



We added a chunk of the Kautz Creek Trail for yucks and giggles and finished at Whitacker's Basecamp Grill for some veggie pizza and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Next year we are just going to add a hike for wildflowers. Sure you don't get a ton of exercise, but WOW what a payoff. I wish I had words to convey how fantastic it smelled up there. All I can say is take the time to go. It is well worth it.

 

Be well and more soon....