Travels With Mike and Mary Joy: Paradise

On Tuesday, July 27^th, we got a late start, because of problems finding breakfast. So, we got to Paradise around 11, and had to park on the road, across from the lower parking lot. If it had been not too much later, or on a weekend, we wouldn’t have been able to do even that, and wouldn’t have been able to go to Paradise (ha! ha!).at all.

After more than seven miles of strenuous hiking the day before, we decided to go on more granny-friendly hikes at Paradise, instead of the area's signature Skyline Trail walk, with its 1700 foot (520 meter) elevation gain. In the end, we decided that we had been cowards and wimps, but at that point it was too late to change our minds.

Since we were at the lower parking lot, we decided to start with a trail that begins there, the Nisqually Vista Trail ("suitable for families with strollers" says the National Park Service's "Paradise Area Trails" sheet), 1.2 miles and 200 feet elevation.

Paradise is known for its wildflowers, and we saw plenty of those. My favorite was the avalanche lily, a little flower with six curved, white petals around a yellow center.

We then stopped by the Visitors Center, which was mostly closed, due to the pandemic.

We then took an even easier walk, to Myrtle Falls. Many other people had the same idea.

Lunchtime! The Paradise Inn is one of the grand old national park lodges. Normally, it has restaurant service, but, due to the pandemic, we had to go through a grab-and-go line. We got some sandwiches and found a place on the hotel’s porch.

Since we had done the easy trails, we decided to do a moderate trail, the Dead Horse Creek Trail. As mentioned above, Paradise's best-known trail is the Skyline Trail, which goes up to Panorama Point and loops around and back down to the upper parking lot. This trail is rated "strenuous," and after the previous day's hike, we didn't feel up to it.

However, it turned out that on the Dead Horse Creek Trail we got most of the up to Panorama Point, joining the Skyline Trail just short of Glacier Vista, and after the steepest part of Skyline, which we took going back down. I would recommend the Dead Horse Creek Trail as a wonderful alternative to the western leg of the Skyline Trail. It is less steep, with wonderful views, and known for its wildflowers. On this trail we met an Indian family, whose daughter wanted to go up to Panorama Point, as well as a number of children. One family had four children, including two that were very young. They had no trouble with the trail. As we went up toward Glacier Vista, the trail was, at points, covered with snow (this was late July, remember!). Pressed for time, we decided not to go to Glacier Vista, and headed back down. Had this been our first hike of the day, instead of the last, we would no doubt have gone to Panorama Point.