Crystal Lakes out towards Mount Rainier is a hike that you should really consider doing and if you like wildflowers, the sooner the better. Wow…this hike immediately jumps up to one of my favorites. The trail head is located directly on 410 and fairly easy to find. I arrived at the trailhead about 12:45pm to find a dozen and a half cars. The hike crosses a stream and quickly gets up and away from the sounds of the road. The first 1.4 miles is mostly shaded and full of switchbacks, but nothing is too steep and you get a few nice views of Mount Rainier. At 1.4 miles there is a fork in the trail, head left for Crystal Lakes, right goes to Crystal Peak. From this point it is about 1 mile to the lower lake and honestly, from everything I’ve read about this hike, not worth too much time, so I head up to the upper and bigger lake which is about another half mile up the trail past the lower lake. This last half mile to the upper lake is one of the most beautiful half miles I’ve been anywhere. The trail is a little dry, but the wildflowers were out in force, butterflies were flying, birds were chirping and the views were stunning. High peaks were found left and right, alpine meadows were present and walking up to the lake was worth every drop of sweat.

At the lake there were a few dozen people enjoying the view, relaxing on the rocks near the lake shore, sun bathing, fly fishing, eating lunch…I headed around the lake to the left and enjoyed lunch on a fallen tree along the lake shore. After I head further around the lake trail loop, but before I even got halfway I found a side trail and continued up. This portion of the trail was a little steeper and the trail a touch more narrow and rocky, but not too hard. After about 15 minutes of climbing I decided to stop in a meadow of wildflowers overlooking the lake with a now visible Mount Rainier. The trail continues up but I was so satisfied with this location I stayed here for almost an hour.

On my decent I left the lake about 4pm and was down at my car by 5pm, there were only 4 cars at the trailhead.

I highly recommend this hike as soon as you can go just to enjoy all the variety of color at the top. Pack a lunch, maybe bring your swimming trunks and a towel and enjoy the day at the lake.

The trail from Upper Crystal Lake to the PCT is in good shape, is easy to follow, and offers nice views of Rainier, which is not visible from the lake. Find this trail by following the obvious path around the shore of Upper Crystal Lake to the left (away from the campsites). The shoreline path peters out in a marshy, muddy area a few hundred yards from where the main trail reaches the lake.

At that point, look to your left and you will see an obvious trail emerging from the marshy area. Although obvious, that trail appears to go only to an old campsite in a small grove of trees. In fact, this is the beginning of the trail to the PCT and is easy to follow.

There were a few small, but hard, snow patches on July 25 but they will probably have melted by the time you read this. It is less than a mile of good trail to the gap in the ridge behind Upper Crystal Lake. From the gap, you can easily see the PCT to Sourdough Gap and the short spur connecting the gap to the PCT. It is less than a quarter mile from the gap behind Upper Crystal Lake to Sourdough Gap, with its views of Mt. Adams and Sheep Lake. Less than 1.25 miles and about 500 feet of elevation gain from Upper Crystal Lake to Sourdough Gap.

Excellent hike. Wildflowers are out (and still more to bloom), no snow on trail, virtually no bugs, pretty alpine lake at the end.
Steady uphill hike, but the first 3/4 of the trail is in shade. Also some great views of Rainier at several spots.
Easy to get to trailhead. It's on hwy 410.

Perfect shorter midsummer day hike. It's a steady climb all the way, but fairly gradual and well-shaded for the most part. The exposed bits have lovely views of Mt Rainier and the rest of the park. We were surprised at the lack of crowds for a Saturday. Right now seems to be the prime time to enjoy this hike - the snow is all gone (apart from the permanent-looking snowpack above the upper lake), the whole trail is blazing with wildflowers, and there wasn't a bug to be found. What a beautiful day in the mountains!