Reflections at Mt. Rainier

Saturday the 6th we wrapped up our day in Mt. Rainier National Park with two short stops: one at Reflection Lake and one at the visitors center. Yes, we visited the visitors center, the place where generally one starts a visit to get information, last. But before that was Reflection Lake.



Reflection Lake was up at the top of the pass after the well-disguised trailhead to visit Martha Falls. It was right alongside the road, with ample parking— thought very busy in the late afternoon hour— so we didn't have to hike. That was a boon to our aching muscles.

Throughout my blogs on this day's adventures I've written several times about how this river or that river is fed by a glacier on Mt. Rainier. You might wonder, "How many glaciers are there?" The answer is 12. There are 12 glaciers on Mt. Rainier.

I was surprised by that number because it's a lot. Although evidence of glacial activity is everywhere in the mountains of the western US, there aren't many glaciers left. For the most part they did their thing during and coming out of the Ice Age. In most places they're gone altogether. Yosemite? Majestic Yosemite Valley is carved by a glacier, but you won't find one there anymore.

Even where glaciers do remain they are receding due to climate change. That change is partly a natural process as the climate has warmed gradually since the last Ice Age, but it's mostly a human-caused process where the climate has warmed extremely rapidly in the last 100 years. in eponymously named Glacier National Park, it's getting hard to see glaciers that were easily visible in the 1950s. Today they're just remnants of what they were within the space of an average human lifespan. Soon they may be gone altogether.

Let's enjoy the beauty that remains but also take steps to stem its demise.

In beauty we walk.

New Computer: 10 Days Later

I've had my new computer for 10 days now. How's it going? Here are Five Things:

1. In some respects, little has changed. My last 2 personal computers have been MacBook Airs, this is another MacBook Air. So much is familiar.


2. Everything is faster. That much I expected. And it's not just because there's a lot more CPU power— it's also because I configured this machine with 16GB RAM, vs. 8 GB (max) in my previous Air. Memory is the limiting factor on many desktop/laptop computing applications... especially when you've got multiple applications open simultaneously.


3. The screen rocks. Apple wedged a new display in the M2 MacBook Air. The old display wasn't a slouch, but this new one is awesome. With so many pixels (2560x1664) text is super sharp, and I can work on high res images without so much zooming out and/or panning. Plus, the new display is bright.


4. The squared-off shape is... okay. It's a little sad that Apple abandoned the signature, wedge shaped design the 'Airs used for more than 10 years. The new 'Air looks like a slightly smaller, svelter MacBook Pro. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because it's a clean, modern look; but also bad, because now it's kind of anonymous. Either way, there's no loss of compactness. The new shape is actually smaller than the previous one overall. (See my side-by-side picture when I unboxed the MacBook Air.)


5. Moving to dongle-land is... not so bad. A small but significant feature I loved in my previous 'Airs was the built-in SD card slot. When Apple dropped this from their design two years ago. I actually held off replacing my computer for more than 18 months hoping they'd bring it back. Last month I decided to take the good with the bad and accept that I'd have to use a dongle to read SD cards. I bought a 3-function dongle for about $15 and... using it doesn't suck.
   
   The dongle is compact enough that it fits in my camera bag without being a hindrance. And it's surprisingly fast. I surmise that's because it's running over a USB-C bus instead of the old built-in slot probably piggybacking on a slower USB-A architecture.

Overall I definitely enjoy the new computer. I'm glad I bought it. I quail a bit at the price— around $1800 plus tax due to the upgraded RAM and SSD storage I configured— but that's not bad if I get another 6½ years out of this one like I did my previous one.

Speaking of 6½ years, I kind of regret sticking with my last computer that long. The faster-is-better thing and the much greater SSD storage make me wish I'd upgraded a year or two ago to start enjoying these benefits sooner. I'll more seriously consider replacing this machine around the 4-5 year mark.

Hiking the Comet Falls Trail

We began Day 3 of our 3-day trip to the Washington Cascade mountains— which was, gosh, almost 2 weeks ago now!— by hiking Comet Falls in Mt. Rainier National Park. The trail promised a 3.8 mile round trip trek with an elevation gain of 900'. That would be a good "main event" hike for the day; we'd combine it with a few other falls that were either drive-to or involved short hikes.

The Comet Falls trail was busy. The parking lot was overflowing when we arrived around 9:45am. That may not sound like we got an early start on the day, but we did. We checked out of our hotel and were driving by 8am. The remainder of the time is how long it took to get there. (Remember, closer lodgings were booked full when we planned this last-minute trip.) Anyway, the lot was overflowing. We parked along the side of the narrow road, our rental car seemingly only 12 inches from sliding down the side of a mountain.



Right away the trail climbed up steep switchbacks from the parking lot. Soon it crossed over the stream canyon and "Up, up, up" became "Falls, falls, falls". Okay, it was still unforgivingly up-up-up, but we minded it less once the sound of cars driving on the road below was drowned out by the sound of water crashing over falls in the canyon.

BTW these are not Comet Falls. Later in the day we'd see some hiking groups who got this far and called it done. And to be fair, these falls are way better than some I've hiked miles to see. But Comet Falls is so impressive it puts these to shame.



But hey, just because Comet Falls is super awesome doesn't mean these falls along the way aren't worth appreciating. I mean, we had to stop regularly to catch our breath on the steep trail anyway. That's a good reminder to slow down and appreciate the beauty in which we walk.

Still not Comet Falls, BTW. I dubbed this one (above) "Barely There Falls".



As steep as the climb was, it makes sense that there are waterfalls the whole way up. I mean, up on the way in means down on the way out, and down means water's gonna fall.

Still not Comet Falls, BTW. The big one's still a ways up. But for now... In beauty I walk.

Update: Keep reading in Hiking to Comet Falls, part 2.