sledding at paradise.

Yeeeee-HAW! Last Friday we journeyed 1/3 of the way up Mt. Rainier {the highest you can go up this mountain by car} for a day of serious sledding. As you can see, it was a primo day up there – not a cloud in the sky. In fact, it was so sunny and warm that three layers of clothing became one for must of us, which is a great feat for changing out in the parking lot.

Wave to the summit – my big brother Frank is making the trek up there this summer! He’s crazy.

Hello, long-lost sister of Carrot Top!

It’s hard to look good when you’re sledding in the snow pants you’ve had since junior year of high school {which officially are going in the give-away pile…for many reasons}, but I tried to save my dignity by wearing my brand new aviators, courtesy of my BFF Shara. Thanks, Shara!

Teensy-Weensy was big enough this year to go down the hills by herself, which you can see she was feeling very pleased about.

Teensy said, “It’s pretty good sledding.” Which is about as much enthusiasm as we can drum up from her these days.

And this picture offers some foreshadowing: I am taking the photo at the top of a sledding hill. Behind Teensy is a sledding hill. They meet in the middle.

Anyone else see the problem with this?!

Teensy discovered it later when she got in a head-on collision with a crazy toddler on a crazy sled. She got one heckuva banged-up arm and chest out of the ordeal, but nothing was broken, thankfully.

Except maybe her desire to go sledding ever again.

We enjoyed the day with the Mr.’s BFF Adam and his two boys.

I think his eldest got the most bang for the buck – he was constantly sledding the entire day. I don’t think he even thought of stopping!

We had planned to eat our picnics in the Paradise Lodge, but it was snowed-in on one side with a metal door at the end of a tunnel of snow being all you could see {and it was padlocked}, and you had to trek to the other side through a bunch of snow. We eventually were told, “It’s pretty much snowed-in.” Good to know.

There was a little bit of snow up there, as you can see…

It’s nice to enjoy sledding again. I was in two sledding accidents in my twenties. The first was college-age silliness down the water tower hill at midnight with Shara riding shotgun,  and it involved high speeds and a small tree.  And the second one left me thinking sledding was quite possibly the most dangerous pastime on earth, as I bounced down a run in Alaska on my face repeatedly and ended up in the emergency room.

Good times.

some people are just meant to be friends…

Our fearless explorers would like you to know the details if you, too, would like to enjoy a day of sledding up at Mt. Rainier, so here ya go:

The road up to Paradise – where the good sledding is – is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so don’t plan a trip for either day.

It’s $15 per car, which is way better than sledding in other places in the Cascades where you’ll need a pricey Sno-Park pass. Traction tires are required, and, once in the park, there’s a sign saying you must carry chains for your car between November and May. I did not have chains because I am just a rebel that way.

There are bathrooms open at the lower lodge of Longmire and up at the parking lot at Paradise. The water up there for the sinks does not work right now, fyi, so bring lots of it.

There’s a pay phone near the bathrooms. Yes – a pay phone. They still exist!

There are two large, long runs for sledding one at a time, and then the lovely bowl of danger for your smaller kids. We went on a day when most people were at work or school, so you can see by the pictures that we pretty much had it to ourselves. Score! Sledding with a crowd is almost a guarantee for an injury.

And, if someone is injured, trust me when I say that there is no cell service until you are about an hour down the mountain. But there is that pay phone!

Do you have a favorite spot for sledding? Do tell!