We went on a pretty sweet hike to Comet Falls. We were actually fooled for a little while. We reached a set of falls that we thought was Comet and spent a good amount of time there until Andy pointed us in the right direction. It was good to chill out by the water anyway. Melvin took the time to practice his modeling skills. Is that Melvin on a hike to Comet Falls or is it a budding young model in a remote tropic location doing an intense photo shoot? I can't tell.
Ian, Kevin, Andy, Michelle, Julien, and I took the extra adventure to really get to the bottom of Comet Falls. It was pretty intense watching the water crash into the rocks and see the snow/ice around it. We got pretty soaked from all the mist. Here's Kevin priming for a wet t-shirt contest at the falls....ok, maybe he's just enjoying the ambiance.
The next day, Melvin, Anne, and myself did a day hike up to Muir Camp on Rainier. Summitting Mt. Rainier is generally a 2-day affair. The first day is spent getting to Muir Camp(the base camp) before the really technical stuff starts. We ran into a sign saying only 2.7 miles to go. Melvin and I were like "oh shit" while Anne was more like "hooray!". The thing is we hadn't ascended all too much and with only 2.7 miles left, that could only mean some pretty steep stuff was up ahead. Every flatish step was another reminder of the impending doom ahead.
We reached the Muir Snowfield and that's when we really started to climb. I can't say I've ever hiked slower, but we did reach Muir Camp in the end. It was the 4th of July and Melvin's first as an american citizen, so he felt it was appropriate to bring an American flag.
The views all along the way were pretty amazing. We were fortunate to have a clear view of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood.
As strenuous as it was to get up to Muir Camp, the reward was nearly as sweet. Glissading!
Once we were nearly down, we tapped into our inner thespian. Michelle has kindly named this "Mort d'Allen".
That night was pretty great. We feasted and had some fun with sparklers especially since it was Melvin's first 4th of July as an American. We wouldn't be obnoxious self-absorbed americans if we didn't have fireworks of some sort. Sparklers are probably my favorite low-key firework representing freedom, independence, and secession from the land of tea and crumpets. We really shouldn't have had our only non-american(Julien) write the "S" in USA....but he got it right the 2nd time around.
Good times. Good trip had by all.
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