I think we broke 20 degrees this afternoon. If nothing else it definitely felt warmer with blues skies and full sun. I usually take breaks throughout the day at work and go walk a lap or two around the cemetery down the street. Today I walked hunched down inside my coat collar with cheeks stinging in the light wind and the weather got me thinking about those frigid Michigan days when temps were hovering right around freezing and the wind was crashing in from the west.

Waves are up, take a sick day, let’s go surfing!. In hindsight it does seem a little insane, hurtling yourself into near freezing water in the dead of winter, but I also know that if I lived in GR right now I’d be checking the weather report daily, waiting for the next good westerly. Makes my twenty degree walk in full sun today not feel so chilly. Click the link above for a couple more pictures and the brief write-up of the frozen-head surf session from 2006.

Holy smokes it’s cold. The closest we came to breaking 20 degrees today was around midnight last night when the temperature hit 19.9. It only dropped from there. We tried to run the dogs at around noon and were defeated after about ten minutes by temps in the teens and a sharp wind to match. I’m reminded again of how much I hate the cold. These kind of temperatures are crippling to any sort of attempt at outdoor fun.

Mary and I have talked somewhat about our plans post-Yakima (maybe in ’09, maybe later) and a return to Grand Rapids tends to pop up as one potential destination. But as I was chipping the ice and snow from my windshield this afternoon on my way to go work out at the gym I kept thinking about how nice it would be to live somewhere a little more temperate. At least the sun should be out again here tomorrow. Even the dogs were bundling up. See?

First snow of the year. I think Rainier soaked up the brunt of the precipitation but we had a half inch of fluffy, wet flakes sticking to the ground when I took the dogs out this afternoon. They always go a little bonkers for the first snow (and will again any time it gets deep enough to bound through), lapping at the ground and snorting as the snow shoots up their noses.

Well, it was a heck of a run, but it looks like winter is finally on its way. Yesterday afternoon I was plenty comfortable walking around outside in a t-shirt, but today’s afternoon brought falling ice pellets. And we’ve got light snow in the forecast for the weekend. Bring on Spring!

Some pictures from a week ago at Mount Rainier National Park. Jordan and I rolled out of Yakima with the intention of making the quick drive to Paradise from the east via Stevens Canyon Road. With precipitation-free skies and reasonably warm temps I expected the road up to be in good condition and didn’t give a second thought to seasonal closures. When we reached the park entrance though we were met by a locked gate. Oops. OK, plan B. We decide to drive up to Sunrise instead of Paradise; only a slightly longer drive, just as scenic, and someplace new for Jordan. Twenty minutes later we reached our second blocked road. OK, plan C. I knew Paradise is open year-round from the Seattle side, so we backtracked and drove all the way to the other side of the park. Four hours in the car. In the end it was worth it though as we arrived to a beautiful day with sunny skies and afternoon temps in the fifties (at elevation 5400 ft, no less). Pictured below: left – Myrtle Falls.

Plenty of muck and slush on the trail. We followed the skyline trail up (terrific views of Mt Adams and Mt St Helens) before slogging across a sloping snowfield to Panorama Point (elevation 6800 ft). From Panorama Point we hiked a little further up to Pebble Creek before running out of daylight and calling it a day.

A sign pointing out the hazards of the Muir snowfield. Given the weather, I think any open crevasses were probably out in plain view (not hiding under fresh snow or obscured by poor visibility) and there were skiers aplenty enjoying the slopes (you can see a couple of snowboarders and bootprints a plenty in the background of the picture where I’m chomping on an apple).

The drive home was significantly quicker minus the backtracking and plus a big shortcut on a national forest road.