Appropriate inappropriate: While collecting scat samples for a SCIENCE! project in the mountains we can call the collection kit a "shit kit."

Inappropriate inappropriate: Telling Mrs. Moosefish the trip was "the shit."

Appropriate inappropriate: Releasing gas on the trail knowing someone is right behind you. (And blaming HAFE regardless of your altitude.)

Inappropriate inappropriate: Cropdusting your sister walking by the kitchen table.

Needless to say, we're still working on it. (Needless to say, I'm still working on it.)

So when we heard about a new SCIENCE! project called the Cascades Carnivore Project that involved collecting poop in the mountains it was pretty much a foregone conclusion we were in. Oh, and we'd just have to go to Mount Rainier National Park to get our collection kit? Double in.

We left home stupid early to beat the rush. It was a Saturday with a great forecast. The Park is seeing so much visitation it's investigating "timed entry" system. (For the record, Moosefish is against a timed entry plan and in favor of a plan that focuses on equity. WTA does a great job of explaining why.)

Our plan worked well and we sailed through the entry station before it was even open. A quick stop to pick up our collection kit (a bit nerve-wracking as we had to drive down an "authorized vehicles only" road) and we were shortly at the trailhead.

I was worried we wouldn't find any poop. Lol. The challenge was finding the right poop. Bear poop? No. Goat poop? No. Whatever-that-is poop? Definitely not. Only a few miles in we found something we believe was marten poop. (We relied on the scat identification guide we were provided by the project.) Carefully following the protocol, Henry donned protective gloves, we snapped pictures, and collected the samples. We're used to picking up Tink's deposits, so it wasn't a big deal. Not that we often get so intimate with the poop, but at least it wasn't fresh.

Further along we broke out of the trees and started climbing into Glacier Basin. Why is it called Glacier Basin. Duh. We're on the slopes of Tahoma so it's lousy with glaciers. This one was home to the Inter Glacier. Sadly, it's a wee little glacier now, barely hanging on in the upper extent of the basin. The big glaciers like the Emmons and the Winthrop were over the ridges from where we were, but we did get a couple of peeks at the peak and it reminded me how glorious glaciers are up close.

We crossed a little creek flowing from a spring higher on the lateral moraine (the side of the basin) and stopped a moment to rest by a huge boulder. Red foxes must have done the same because there was a nice little deposit sheltered there. In fact, many of the boulders with overhangs had similar deposits. We collected a couple more before heading higher.

One of my little weirdsies is I have put foot on snow at least once a month for years. Yet here I was at the end of August and I hadn't touched any snow. In fact, this was the last weekend so I was very interested in getting high enough to scratch this itch. We spotted a patch of snow about 500 feet above us and started that way. The trail, what little there was before, was gone. We climbed through the loose glacial debris and crossed gullies formed by the melting snow and ice. When we reached the snow I flopped down on it with satisfaction.

There were a couple of other climbers higher up, but even though they had professed a desire to climb all the way up to Steamboat Prow they had turned around before stepping foot on the glacier. It was clear we weren't going much higher than where we were so we busted out snacks and relaxed in the picture perfect conditions.

When the snacks ran out we started down. The footing was loose so there were lots of slips and slides and maybe a tumble, too. We kept looking for scat, but hadn't seen any above about 6500 feet. We finally found a pile beneath a boulder (of course) at 7,000 feet and used the last of our kit's supplies to collect it.

Both of our goals accomplished (poopy and snowy), we descended quickly to get back on the trail and back to the car. Just before leaving the open terrain of the basin, Henry identified an interesting option that would take us up the lateral moraine and maybe, just maybe allow us to connect to the Burroughs Mountain trail via St. Elmo's Pass. Looking at the map it might go (and we could connect back to the trailhead via the Wonderland), so I guess we'll have to give it a shot. If the weather stays good into September, maybe it'll happen this year. More likely, we'll give it a try when there's snow in the basin early next year.

📍On the lands of the Puyallup people.