Summerland
Head up the cushy Wonderland Trail, where old growth, a roaring river and snow capped peaks will keep ones interest for the first three miles. You’ll then begin to switchback a time or two and gain elevation steadily until you reach Summerland Camp after 4.3 miles of hiking, which depending on the season, may be covered in snow or wildflowers. More adventurous types may wish to climb easy slopes 2,300' higher to Meany Crest, which features a gorgeous bivy site, large enough for 6-8, sheltered from the winds, and offering amazing views of Little Tahoma, Rainier and the Cowlitz Chimneys area and a look at the Stuart range, Glacier, Baker and a hundred others in the distance. You may see mountain goats grazing in Summerland meadows. Gaze up at Tahoma’s FryingPan Glacier and enjoy your time in this high meadow.
Further exploration: Panhandle Gap is reached in another 1.4 miles from Summerland. Here, large meadows sit at the base of dramatic waterfalls. With climbing equipment and glacier travel skills, it is possible to continue on even further, following a well trodden slope up to the Whitman Crest, elevation approximately 9,000'. Be aware of crevasses on the Frying Pan Glacier.
Driving Directions:
From Enumclaw, take Highway 410 east 43 miles to the White River Entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park. Veer right on Sunride Road, follow this 4 miles to the trailhead near Fryingpan Creek. Recent Trip Reports
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Late start at 11am, but thanks to the rain there were few cars at the trailhead, and the trail was f...
Late start at 11am, but thanks to the rain there were few cars at the trailhead, and the trail was far from crowded.
The trail was in good condition. Some wildflowers were still blooming (e.g. Gentian). Lots of blueberries along the trail, but none properly ripe. Didn't continue beyond Summerland Camp. Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/eric.jain/SummerlandOctober2011 Tracklog: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118799950 Overnight
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Started early to beat the heat, weather looked and felt like thunder showers. So NOT good as I decid...
Started early to beat the heat, weather looked and felt like thunder showers. So NOT good as I decided to pack light and left my rain fly at home. It was a risk and it paid off, it was warm and no rain, thank god! Trail is dusty and flowers are still in bloom even a couple avalanche lilies left! No berries yet and no bears. I picked site #4 and it was huge, room for 5 or so tents. Lots of marmots doing there thing. I went up towards panhandle still snow crossings, but the bridge is now in at the large crossing. I missed a herd of 20 goats on the trail, bummer! Tarn is still frozen in spots. Lots of people out enjoying this fantastic weather before the streak ends. 2 things that were annoying I saw a mouse in the potty, live gross! And lastly the big rock at the prime spot in the meadow I have sat on for YEARS has the meadow sign and a big stick blocking it. There's a clear dirt path and I just don't get it, it's the best spot to take it all in. Next best rock is higher and right next to marmot home, don't want to bother mom and babies. Oh well, if that's all I have to complain about.. life's not too bad.
Love this trail and all that it offers, it's an amazing place to spend the night too! Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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Bugs
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We started this trail mostly to compare it to the Spray Park trail. It's a little longer to get to s...
We started this trail mostly to compare it to the Spray Park trail. It's a little longer to get to summerland, but the trail is easier. We turned around at the Fryingpan Creek crossing because we had stuff to do today and wanted to keep the hike short. It's 3 miles to the crossing and the book says after that is a one mile climb into summerland. The next time we go, we know where to expect the trail to get harder. Up until the crossing, the trail is very easy going. Honestly, it's easy to feel like the trail is a lot shorter. As for a Spray Park comparison; other than the climb, which we didn't do yet, the trail is longer, but feels shorter/easier due to the wider, less rock/root strewn path.
...and there are bugs... All in all, it's a great leg stretcher, and next time we have summerland to look forward to. Day hike
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Wildflowers blooming
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Jeff and I got a relatively early start leaving Edgewood about 8:30 for the Park. We arrived about ...
Jeff and I got a relatively early start leaving Edgewood about 8:30 for the Park. We arrived about 10:30 with the lot at Frying Pan Creek about 1/3 full - this is a very popular hike so even on a Thursday there were lots of folks from Wonderland Trail hikers to day hikers on the tread.
According to the hike book it is 8.4 miles RT with 2100 feet of elevation gain. It did not feel like this much work, the first couple miles are moderate to easy with the last bit of the hike up a steep chute that leads to the Summerland basin and glorious views of the Mountain. All kinds of flowers were in bloom, a rare and unexpected treat for this time of year. The trail is in excellent shape but the bridge over Frying Pan Creek may not last this winter. Its supports appear shaky and it had a slight tilt. In the 1970's I recall crossing Frying Pan Creek further up on a snow bridge. My sense is that the Park Service will need to put in a new bridge next year.
Summerland
— Aug 23, 2011
— Jac
Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
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WEnt to Summerland today wondering how the weather would be. Going through Enumclaw it was raining h...
WEnt to Summerland today wondering how the weather would be. Going through Enumclaw it was raining hard so was a little concerned, but the closer we got to the Mountain the better it got. Turned out to be a beautiful, warm sunny day. Perfect! The hike was great. Tons of flowers in the middle of the hike, and still just beginning in the meadows of Summerland itself. The Mountain itself was beautiful..... Saw Mamots busy eating and running around. One big one ran right by us as we were sitting on a big rock having lunch. It is the most snow i have seen in that area, especially considering it is August. Usually we hike up to Panhandle Gap, but seemed like a lot of snow. We passed two hikers doing the Wonderland Trail that were hiking through to Indian Bar, so I wonder how they did over the Pass. They were doing 15 miles today.
Some National Park workers were building a new bridge to replace the bridge the tore down today at the beginning of the hike. They had done a lot of work in one day. They replaced the bridge with two logs for the present, but they way they were working it won't be long before the whole bridge is replaced! There were NO bugs at all. Might have been because there was a cool breeze blowing in the meadow. |
 Meadow near Summerland, by Stephen Cobert, August 2002
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