The Touch of Snow

White is tranquility
White is peace
White is purity

Snow is white and a lot more fun !!!

Yes, yesterday was the first time I touched snow, skidded on it, lay on it, played with it, and had loads of fun!

We went for an Intern trip to Mount Rainier, which is about two and a half hour drive south of Seattle. The journey was fun because we were shown movies all the way. On the way there, we saw Harold and Kumar to to Whitecastle, which is a fun movie, a bit sleazy at places ( a no-no for those who didn't even enjoy American Pie!), but a laugh riot nevertheless. Perhaps the funniest parts of the movie are when Kumar is deperate after marijuana, and finally ends up smoking it with a man-eater cheetah! While on our way back, we saw Hitch, which most people would enjoy. Will Smith is a "Date Doctor", who helps men get the ladies of their dreams! But things start going awry when he himself falls for a gossip columnist! Thanks to these two, I didn't even notice the journey to and fro.

Anyway, once we reached there, we started on a long trek to the top. Well, the climb was steep, but we were a group of 13 (the "Fellowship"), and there was not a single moment when we felt tired, or bored. We munched on apricots, had protein bars, drank juice, talked, chatted, laughed, shouted, and kept going up all the way.

I had been really skeptical about finding snow. After all, this is the height of the summer, and we had not found any snow on Mt. St. Helens, which is the other volcano in the area. But we found some of those white lovely flakes pretty soon. Snow! After a little snow-bashing, we started up again in search of "better" snow because the one on the lower slopes is not all that clean.

We had our moments of "excitement" and daredevilry, when some of us decided to take a shortcut throught the snow. The trouble is that grip on the snow is really poor with the tennis sneakers, and we almost paid the price for that. The shoes slip, and sometimes you even penetrate the snow for a good foot and found yourself trapped! Our very own life-guard did a darned good job having rescued at least 4 of us!

The lunch was great - it had to be after a two hour trek! We passed around everything, and C's thepla's were a favourite with everybody. We started up again, with me really worried if we would make it back in time for the bus. Anyway, we found some great snow further up, and had more fun in it. Playing around! or just watching it.

The best part about just watching snow is the way Sun's rays get reflected back from it. Awesome sight. I would just love to sit beside a long stretch of snow all day, just watching it change colour with the Sun.

The downward journey was quicker, less tiring, but far more precarious as many of us ended up spraining our ankles, it's always tougher because your feet land in myriad angles but with all your weight!

And to the dismay of some who would want to see me "stranded for the night helpless and alone", I managed to return well in time for the bus ;-)

And yes, it didn't get over with that! We had a lovely treat from the Birthday Boy, AV! Thanks man! for the great food!