Thursday, December 21, 2017

Snow Bowl birthday hut adventure!

 This is the second year of what I hope to make an annual adventure. The weather stunk and two out of the four of us needed to stay home due to illness, but Corrine and I braved the rain and drove up to the south sno park with Mt. Tahoma Trails.
 The plus of a rainy day is that we got to park a mile closer and skip a mile of climbing uphill! After about a mile of hiking we hit snow at 3600 feet. I left my snowshoes in the car because it was easier to just hike today.
 We continued through the rain in the woods but the climbing kept us warm.
 Reaching the high point and enjoying the prayer flags!
 We took a short break but cooled down quickly.
 This looked totally different with so little snow but we knew we were on the home stretch.
 My faithful friend braving the rainy day with me.
 We started downhill to the hut.
 There was a light dusting of snow but it got a little deeper when we got up out of the trees.
 Behind the hut, this little gazebo was made by a special volunteer Judy as a meditation space.
 I took some time to enjoy the gazebo.
 Inside the gazebo there were colorful prayer flags.
 The windows at all sides gave a great view on a sunnier day.
 The gazebo has all sorts of special touches.
 Outside the gazebo
 On the edge of the special place- people stacked rocks and left special touches.
 Here is a pole with the distance to the mountains.
 We had the big beautiful hut all to ourselves- played a board game- Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets trivia with a Quiddich game, relaxed by the fire, took naps, and read good books.
 What an amazing cozy space!
 MTTA huts feel like coming home! I love how many special touches the huts have.
 Melting snow on the stove for water.
 We cooked some delicious food.
 The extensive kitchen has everything you might need- even a collection of muffin tins. Propane and solar power.
 I slept upstairs and had a wonderful time. It was cozy and special to have the hut to ourselves.
 We braved the wind and rainy morning and hiked back down to the car. We met up with two friends, Keri and Joseph who brought us to Longmire where I enjoyed this yummy blackberry cobler.
We had a great visit and a short hike by the river. I can't wait until the next hut or yurt adventure! What a gem. Such a special place. I feel connected to myself, Mt. Rainier, and my friends and open to what these experiences have to teach me!