Overlooking Silver Basin to the East and Mt Rainier to the west, the “beach” is a flat col in Crystal Mountain’s backcountry. Last night John and I skinned up after work and pitched a tent. The full moon lit the trail, making the surface hoar glisten like a slope full of diamonds. The crust leftover from last week’s deluge made the top half of the climb a bit tricky. Luckily we brought along our ski crampons, which helped considerably. This morning, we watched the sun rise over Threeway Peak and skied down to work. Not a bad night. Since the light was tough for photography last night, here’s a photo taken from another day.