Mt Rainier framed through the rampart of Pinnacle Peak, Tatoosh Range. We had gone down for a quick weekend at Mt Rainier with Nicole's mom. She loves nature but rarely gets the treat of it, so she rented a place in Ashford with a super rad VHS collection and we had ourselves a home base for mountain fun. It was nice to also visit all the stuff I usually speed past when we're to snowboard the mountain. We visited all the lodges, historic structures and a tiny museum that contained some pretty bitchin' taxidermy. It was there that I learned that Tatoosh is a Chinook word for the nourishing breast. Well I was about to find that out, for I went out to hike Pinnacle Peak while Pepper and Dianne took in Reflection Lake. When we hike to Muir in the Spring, I'm always looking over at the Tatoosh Range. It's interesting because it's very different from Rainier's bulk. Shorter peaks that sharply jut upward. It turns out that they are an uplifted granite block with an older layer of basalt on top like frosting. The rock itself is very chossy. The hike is a quick one up through the woods and into a saddle dividing Pinnacle and Plummer Peak. Lots of folks were heading over to Plummer, so I decided to head east around Pinnacle to have a look at the Pinnacle Glacier. My topo map must be old, because there ain't no glacier left.
This pic shows where the Pinnacle Glacier once sat. But what is left is a lovely little tarn in the basin that I hiked down to through the scree. I was thrilled about the lack of fellow hikers over here and even considered for a moment, a complete circumnavigation of Pinnacle, but realized it would've involved more bushwhacking than I had time for.
Sitting on the ridge between Pinnacle and Castle Peaks, looking east. Foregoing the bushwhacking, I retraced my path back to the trail down, which by this time was totally vacated. It was a pleasant ramble back down, with stops for blueberries- so abundant this season! Nicole and Dianne had a great day kicking around pretty Paradise, and I talked them into a quick trip back up the road, so I could skate some fresh pavement. A sweet little chub scrub road that completed the activities part of the day. Back at the cabin, we hung out and watched Jeremiah Johnson on the VCR! And it didn't eat the tape! The movie is perfect example of that weird 70's Hippy Vision/Cinema Verite crossover. Kind of dated but full of interesting turns and twists.