Tipsoo Lake-Naches Peak Loop

The weather was cold, but amazing! While it was raining pretty much every where in the Puget Sound area (as well as a majority of the drive up 410), it was actually lightly snowing at the trail head. We were stoked, being we thought we were going to have to turn back because of rain.

The fall colors were amazing and looked even better with the dusting of snow. The hike itself wasn't too strenuous. I have managed to fall horribly out of shape, and although the first mile or so definitely had me winded, things seemed to level out at some point. We hiked from the trailhead directly across the road from Tipsoo Lake. Not sure exactly which way that was (clockwise or counter clockwise) being that Mt. Rainier was no where in sight because of all the clouds!

Other than that, the weather definitely does change course a lot-- as weather and hiking experts warn. It started off chilly (but not too cold) with the snow falling, then the sun would come out and warm you a bit, and when we rounded one section of the trail, there were some chilly winds (even for me, who loves the winter)! Definitely a good idea to bring some thermals, gloves, or a hat of sorts.

Completed the look in about 3hrs, which included a lot of stops for picture taking.