So last weekend was my birthday(July 21st.) I wanted to go somewhere new for my birthday, so me and my girlfriend rented a room at the Crystal Mountain Resort near Mount Rainier in Washington. I've been planning this trip out for a long time now. We just never got around to it. On our first day we hiked 4.5 miles(with a 2500 ft elevation gain) up the South East side of Mount Rainier from a place called Paradise, WA. We went into the glacial fields, and it was incredible. We filled all of our water bottles with water melting directly off of the glaciers, and enjoyed the views of the surrounding mountains. That night we drove about 19 miles to our resort and stayed the night. The next morning we drove about 14 miles to a place called Sunrise Visitor Center which is on the North East side of Mount Rainier. We hiked about 3 miles up the mountain and ran into a glacier hanging off the side of the trail. We didn't have the proper equipment to make it across safely, so we enjoyed the view for a few minutes and caught our breath(Needed the break the hike was 3 miles with a 2000+ ft elevation gain.) We hiked about half way back down and cut across this side trail and started hiking back up. We went up about 1.5-2 miles to a place called Frozen Lake. The lake is fed by the glacier sitting on the side of it. You can see the bright blue glacier disappearing into the water. Then we made the return hike back down, and made the long drive home.

That's a nice short version of what I did for my 26th bday. The one part I left out is that at the very end of the first day I dropped our good camera and the tip of the lens broke off. It took about 45 minutes to re install it and now the camera doesn't take the amazing photos that it used to. So the photos from day 2 aren't what I had hoped. Time for a new camera!

So here are some photos.

DAY 1



























































6



Family of Fox playing!



DAY 2

Dude you make me miss snow so god damn much. Now I need to be in January.

Now go take a shit there and post a new thread.

Wow, beautiful pictures. Looks like it was a hell of a trip and birthday; wish I could have a birthday doing something like that :P

They do have some shitters on the mountain at the base camp(4 miles up the mountain for spending the night before climbing to the peak.) We passed those, but they aren't as open as that. I'de take a fat shit in that pooper hole.

Oh and so you know...We don't have to miss the snow here. We have ski resorts open 365 days a year. So any time you feel the need to put your snow boots on, hop a flight. lol :)

Great pics thanks for sharing!

God, I really do miss the scenery of the Pacific Northwest.

pictures look awesome to be there must of been even better

Enjoyed the 23rd pic the best.

Nice pics man, I hiked mt washington new hampshire when I was younger, fasted mph winds ever recorded baby! 70 pound pack and was leaning hard into the wind... Again very nice pics

Oh I know you do. But no I won't pay $1000 for snow. I miss it, but the rivers are still raging right now! Kayaking season isn't off.

So, how many people scrolled back up, counted down to the 23rd picture and said, "Dat ass..." >-) !