Trip Reports

A beautiful day up in Summerland, with great views of the mountain. I didn't make it to Panhandle Gap, but it appeared to have some snow up there. Trail is in good condition, and no snow except on the tallest peaks. Come and get it while you still can, and maybe there will be a couple more good weeks before the White River road closes.

With shorter days, darker dawns, and a definite chill in the morning air, I opted to hike to Summerland in the warmer afternoon sunshine of autumn. Only 5 cars at the trailhead when I arrived at 11:30 am. This easy-to-moderate graded trail that gains 1500 ft in 4.2 miles (most of it in the final mile up to Summerland) is in excellent condition, but once you cross the last log bridge spanning Fryingpan Creek, be wary of the dusting of frozen snow glazing the trail in shaded areas. I'd advise good tread on your hiking shoes and poles to keep you balanced, as the frozen stuff was rather slick. Fall colors are modest but haven't peaked. Ran into only 5 others on the trail. 2 hours in, 1.5 hours out.

A very pleasant experience on the Wonderland Trail. Starts out nearly level along Fryingpan Creek for maybe a half mile, grand old trees. Climbs up to the creek in a slot gorge, switchbacks up onto a rib and goes through dark, quiet hemlock forest till crossing the creek at 3 miles. Then it turns tough and climbs a 1000' in less than a mile, but the switchbacks aren't too bad.

The best views at Summerland are the very first ones. Little Tahoma, K Spire, Emmons Glacier, Columbia Crest. Stunning. The higher you go, the less of the mountain you see because Meany Crest gets in the way. But, if you pretend Rainier isn't there, it's sublime in the moraines and tundra. Didn't make Panhandle Gap due to lazing about in the sun on a rock in the meadow for 90 minutes.

A great, easy 4 miles on a wonderfully maintained trail to beautiful meadows under Mt. Rainier. Wildlife galore--there were bugling elk, marmots posing for photos, and even a bear. The bear was nonplussed to meet us on the trail, and he kindly stepped aside before rejoining the trail behind us, using the log footbridge, and heading up the switchbacks on the other side. Everyone enjoys a well maintained trail! There is a bit of fall color right now but not much yet.

Today was hike #75 of 2009
My BFF has never done Summerland Trail and it's my favorite trail in the Sunrise area. If you want to see Marmots this is the place to go! There are at least 3 families living here and they put on a show for me every single time. Today there was 5-6 sitting on the rocks being lazy and more in the meadows stocking up for winter. They like to eat around noon in the meadows fyi. I've got them figured out 3 years coming to this trail at least twice a year if not more. Annie and I went past summerland to the small tarns and took a dip. It was very cold but totally worth it. They seemed smaller than I remembered from last year. Another group was doing jumping in as we left, they had the right idea. We saw more marmots on the way down took a ton more photos and loved the red and yellow colors coming out right now, it was another wonderful trip.

Ethan, Eric, & I drove over Chinook Pass this morning to meet Eric's parents, my old friends Phyllis & Ivar, now of Anacortes, for a hike to Summerland. I hadn't been on this trail in over 20 years and it was just as nice as described: beautiful forest in the beginning, then climbing to the green meadows of Summerland. Most of the flowers were past along the trail, but at Summerland there were lots of monkeyflower along the creeks and gentians in the meadows, many still in bud. The day was sunny & not too warm with few mosquitoes. The mountain was out in all its glory until about 2:00 when some clouds started forming. By the time we were driving home it was completely obscured. It was nice to see old friends and to revisit a place I hadn't seen in a long time.

This was my hike #4 for Hike-a-Thon, and perhaps the best yet. Old growth forest, rushing water, and stupendous views of Rainier after a couple of miles. Subalpine meadows at Summerland are filled with wildflowers (especially blue gentian as well as red-pink penstemon (I think) lining the banks of the creeks). Marmots next to the trail.

Ran into a group of 4 backpackers affiliated with WWU who were out for a week surveying butterflies for the Park.

Heading into the alpine zone toward Panhandle Gap there are more flowers (including lupine) and interesting changes in the rocks (green) and soil (red). I saw a herd of 30-40 goats crossing the snow fields above. Views of Rainier and peaks beyond get better.

Trail is in great condition, though crowded. There were some flies but they weren't really biting.

Temperatures forecasted to reach the 90s argued for a shaded hike, which this is for the first 3 miles. Getting on the trail by 8:15 also helped. The trail is in terrific shape the whole way: wide and dry, with a few glimpses of Frying Pan Creek cascading through a narrow chasm, and good views of Rainier toward the end. Spectacular wildflowers begin just after the bridge at about 3 miles; then switchback up to Summerland camp for more flowers, especially lupine. In Summerland itself there are views in every direction: up toward PanHandle Gap, across toward Goat Island Mountain, and of course Rainier. There are a few flies and enough mosquitoes to make the insect spray worthwhile, but hardly enough to bother you after that. On the way back downhill we ran into many hikers sweating it out in the rapidly rising temperatures - strongly encourage an early start if the weather is warm.

A great hike!

Had a very nice day on the trail to Summerland. Cool forest in the morning. The trail is in excellent shape. Flowers began just across the bridge over Fryingpan Creek. Lots of avalanche lilies in the forest below Summerland.

I ran into a couple friendly faces at Summerland as Janet and Anne were heading down after camping there the night before. The route to Panhandle Gap is melting out fast. Only a few patches of snwo before the log bridge. Higher up there are steps leading all the way to the gap.

A short steep snow climb at the gap or a dirt path that goes around it. I saw a herd of goats south of Panhandle. Just enjoying the cool snow. Heading higher it was a pleasant hike up Banshee Peak. Great views of Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, Galcier Peak and many closer peaks. The Cowlitz Chimneys are right nearby.

Met two other hikes and spent the day with them. Enjoyable hike down. Bugs not too bad at all. A very nice day in the mountains.

I have posted many more photos at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips-2009" on the left margin.

Great day at Summerland, tons of people out for fee-free weekend. It's great to see so many folks on the trails, especially a trail like this that can accomodate a crowd because there's so many places to disperse in the basin. It would be great if more people had better trail etiquette, or at least some common sense courtesy. Other than that, only happy things on the trail.

The trail is in great condition, completely snowfree to Summerland basin, with more flowers than I remember seeing on this trail before. Very few bugs, just some annoying flies on the lower stretches of the trail in the woods. No mosquitoes or biting flies today.

We pulled up a good, warm lunch rock, peeled off our socks and boots, and had a bit of a nap near the stream. We got a good laugh at the HUGE marmots running around in the few remaining snowfields in the Summerland basin.

We didn't go much farther, but we asked one of the many hikers who had gone up about conditions towards Panhandle Gap. The hiker we talked to said that the snowfields were soft and easy to cross, and that the crossing over the stream seemed safe and easy.