Mount Rainier - August 8th, 2004

After taking a pelagic birding trip out of Westport, Washington, I decided to spend my final day on Mount Rainier looking for White-tailed Ptarmigan and Gray-crowned Rosy Finch. I stopped in at Nisqually NWR on my drive to Rainier to observe the alleged hordes of Willow Flycatchers that spend the summer there, but I only observed a few here ans there and they were only offering up their short call, not the full song I was hoping to hear. A little late in the season maybe. After stopping for gas and dinner, I finally made it to the park just before midnight and spent the night at a pullout just inside the gate.

From the Paradise lodge the next morning, I called the Washington Bird Box and found a July 25th report from Michael Fleming detailing a Ptarmigan sighting on the Skyline trail about 150 yards past the High Skyline and Low Skyline Trail Junction coming from Panorama Point. The birds were reported in the shale next to a small snowfield just off the trail. I began my hike just after 7 AM. I had been to Paradise twice before with my wife Courtney, so I knew I was in for a spectacular scenic treat whether I found my birds or not.

When I got to the reported site, I was quickly excited to see a graying shape moving in the shale, but it was a Hoary Marmot who was quite entertaining all the same. As always, when I can't find the birds, I start looking for birders. After about 30 minutes, two hikers arrived on scene with binoculars and a scope tripod. I asked if they were looking for the Ptarmigan and they replied that indeed they were. When I said I hadn't seen anything, they casually mentioned that they had seen two Ptarmigan just a few hundred yards below. This was eerily reminiscent of my experience looking for Rufous-capped Warblers in Sycamore Canyon where Ethan Beasley steered me in the right direction.

This time, I was indebted to Tom Rohrer and Valerie Weber from Renton. Following their directions, I found myself on a small snowfield adjacent to the Skyline Trail just above the Golden Gate Trail junction. I started walking toward the stream that spilled down the opposite slope and cut into the snow field on the far side. I very quickly picked up some movement among the rocks and found several Ptarmigans moving my way! I froze and then the Ptarmigans come to me.

Tom and Valerie, who hadn't seen anything at the other site, came back down to check on my progress and were pleasantly surpised to get even better looks than they had earlier in the day. We were able to study the birds at close range for almost twenty minutes and the birds remained when I finally had to thank Tom and Valerie one last time and begin my arduous journey up to Camp Muir.

Camp Muir is by no means the most accessible site for Gray-crowned Rosy Finch, but it might be the most reliable and also the most fun. Getting there requires hiking almost two miles up a steep and slippery snowfield at high altitude that can turn your legs to jelly. Since I didn't have any trekking poles (highly recommended for this hike), I had to carefully walk in the footsteps of those ahead of me, which formed something of a snow staircase. I made great time, and was getting close up views of the finches by noon. On several occassions, I had finches jump up on my boots.

Getting back down from Muir is much less strenuous but also more dangerous. With tired legs and less control, avoiding a fall or a twisted ankle or knee is a challenge. It is possible to sort of ski down the hill, especially with the help of trekking poles, and the experience climbers do this very effectively. It is also possible to slide down the mountain just by sitting down and letting gravity do its work, but this also requires some caution.

I made it back to Paradise at 2:30 to find hordes of visitors clogging the parking area and cafeteria. Lunch was out of the question, so I yeilded my coveted parking space which was quickly gobbled up and made my way down toward the Longmire area. My Washington bird finding guide (Opperman) indicated that Winter Wrens were dominant in the lower forests of the park, so I tried my hand on the Wonderland Trail. I found Chickadees to be dominant and found only one wren, of which I caught only a quick glimpse. A sound recording of its distinctive chip allowed me to be confident in the ID.

After a fairly long day and a 6 AM return flight the next morning, I called it quits for the day, setting my sights on my Colorado trip the following week.