My initial destination was the Burroughs Mountains but after arriving at Burroughs two I kept on going to the next peak which I could not find a name for but from the top you have a bird’s view of the Winthrop Glacier and the adjacent valley I arrived at the TH at 8:00 but as soon after I got out of my car it was obvious there were already several squadrons of mosquitoes and flies on patrol. There were only a dozen cars in the parking lot. After brushing on several layers of mosquito repellant I headed out but not before grabbing an extra bottle of water since the temperature was already 68º’s. Along the way I encountered Mickey (Pika) poking his head out of a rock wall. I arrived at Burroughs two at about nine and noted there was only a few of us at the over-look which made it very nice and quiet. The trail was in excellent shape but dry and very dusty and of course the flies that were on harassment patrol. There is no water along the trail and very little shade so bring extra water, and sun screen to ward off the sunburn I got. It was a beautiful hike with fantastic views. Going over to the next peak made it a bit more interesting but if you decide to go be advised you will encountered two extra long climbs (going and coming) as there is a valley you will descend into before going up the first climb. When I returned back to Burroughs two I noted that a tourist bus had drop off a bus load of tourist off and they were happily eating and yakking away where I was earlier, with more struggling tourist on the way up. The chip monks were probably having a field day. Going over the next peak made it a once a year type of hike as one hiker stated.

This is one of the best trails to see Rainier. It appears to close that you can stretch your hand and touch it, or just walk down that ridge and start climbing the mountain. The trail did not disappoint this time also. It starts at Sunrise point and gains elevation quickly to Frozen lake. The lake still has quite a bit of snow around it and its fun to sit down and watch the small icebergs floating in it. From the lake, its about 0.7 mile to the first Burrough. View are good at first Burrough, but its in no way the final destination. Another 0.7 mile is Second Burrough. There is still a small snow patch on the trail, but nothing to worry about, can be crossed easily even without poles. Views from Second Burrough are just awesome, you will probably never see Rainier so close, or so I thought! After taking a good break here, we decided to go up to the third Burrough also. The trail is not maintained and does not appear anywhere. But I think that is a huge injustice. Its about 1.5 mile and 800ft elevation gain. But before that you have to lose about 400ft of elevation, which means the way back also has a uphill stretch. Trail just goes straight up the hill, its steep in places. We saw a lot of mountain goats. View from top of 3rd Burrough is truly breathtaking. You can see whole Rainier from top to end of glaciers. Its just amazing and a definite must do. It adds about 3 miles and total 1200 ft (800 + 400) of elevation gain to your hike, but its worth it. Its all snow free now and wild flowers are in full bloom. Its suggested to take wonderland trail on the way back, though it has couple of snow patches, but lots of flowers. More photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/hiking.glory/BurroughsMtn

Full version of this report, with more photos at: http://dontlookdown.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-burroughs-071909/ After "losing" the first weekend in July to my grandmother's 80th birthday party and the second to a Saturday spent soaking at Breitenbush Hot Springs, we were well overdue for a hike. Sunday was the only day available to us, so we settled on a dayhike at Mt. Rainier National Park. I'd seen some stunning photographs taken from the Burroughs trail near Sunrise, and yearned for some in-your-face views of The Mountain—on prior trips to Mt. Rainier National Park (Spray Park, Summerland) the eponymous mountain remained frustratingly hidden in cloudcover. If the weather forecast was to be believed, this day would be different. It was. On top of our hike starting at the always-busy Sunrise Visitor Center, we learned during the week that it was Get Into Your National Park Free Day, or some such thing. So I set my alarm early, had no trouble getting Nicole out of bed, and we were on the road at 04:40. I love early starts, but even as we cruised through Enumclaw and the tip of The Mountain lit up, I wished we'd started even earlier. At 06:40, just two hours later, we pulled into Sunrise with our pick of the parking lot. Ten minutes later, we were on wide empty trails through lupine with outstanding views of Mt. Rainier. Of course, the views of Mt. Rainier are outstanding from the parking lot. The trip reports which inspired us to take this trail talked of the Third Burroughs, but various other sources (Green Trails Map #270, 50 Hikes in Mount Rainier National Park, and the signage at the visitor center itself) make no mention of any Burrough beyond the Second Burroughs. That said, we were set on the Third Burroughs as our ultimate destination, as the ~six-mile-round-trip to the Second Burroughs didn't sound like quite enough. The trails are all well-signed, and it's easy to simply follow the arrows. After several junctions and a mile/mile-and-a-half of easy walking, we reached Frozen Lake at 07:40. Along the way we'd seen only two people—a 1:1 people to marmot ratio! After skirting south of the roped-off Frozen Lake, the trail reaches the First Burroughs and climbs upward for the next ~twenty minutes until you reach the top with sweeping views of Mt. Rainier and the Second Burroughs in the distance and vistas as far as Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, and Mt. Stuart to the north. From the First Burroughs, which sits at ~7300', the trail climbs another ~100' over the next ~twenty minutes until you reach the Second Burroughs. Along the way, there is still a small patch of snow to traverse, and since it was still early in the morning—I believe we were the first to cross it—the snow was still a bit hard and we had to tread carefully. We were glad to have our trekking poles. At 08:35 we sat down in the stone shelter atop the Second Burroughs for a small snack. The wind was quite cold atop both the First and Second Burroughs, and we each had a few layers, including our rain jackets with hood up. Views were amazing in every direction. At the First Burroughs, we'd met and passed a couple who'd come up via the lower portion of the Burroughs Loop Trail. After our brief snack, they approached the shelter. As we were eager to get moving again and warm up, we left the shelter to them and started toward the Third Burroughs. From the Second Burroughs, the trail drops a few hundred feet before gaining it all back and then some to the Third Burroughs. Just after leaving the shelter (and the only people we'd see until our way back up the Second Burroughs on our return) we saw a small group of eight or nine mountain goats, including a big old Billy and four small kids. After snapping several photos, we moved onward, as the Third Burroughs looked to be a bit of a workout. We climbed through the tundra-like landscape and up the Third Burroughs, several times losing the trail under snow, but always finding it again at the upper end easily. Again and again we congratulated ourselves on getting up early. We felt like we had the entire Mountain to ourselves. At 09:40 we reached the top of the Third Burroughs (7828') and were treated to an entirely new view. Now much of the lower north side of Mt. Rainier, which had remained hidden, was visible. Particularly impressive was the entirety of the Winthrop Glacier. The views to the West, Northwest, and Northeast weren't to be ignored either. We sat and lunched (taking care to keep crumbs from the chipmunk), took photos, and relished the solitude for a half-an-hour before we decided it was time to turn around. It was 10:10. I took several steps down the largest snowfield before I dropped to my behind to glissade and Nicole dropped in behind me. Since I was leading the way, she gained quickly on me, picking up speed with cries of glee and finishing with a 360° spin as we reached the bottom. It was her first glissade, and only my second (after Spider Gap). By 10:55 we were atop the Second Burroughs, our pants nearly dry, and the population went from zero to ten, twenty, thirty. I estimate we saw ~150 people on the way out, with all levels of preparedness and civility—or lack thereof. Even with all the foot traffic, we reached our car by 12:10 and left the overflowing parking lot ten minutes later. I cannot recommend this trail highly enough. I also must reiterate my belief that it is imperative you start early. For the first two-thirds of this hike, we felt like we had the place to ourselves: the vast, barren tundra landscape of The Burroughs, the panormaic views in every direction, and, of course, The Mountain itself, filling the frame for nearly every step of the hike. The views are there no matter how many people are on the trail, but the atmosphere isn't. Stats: ~8 miles round-trip from the Sunrise Visitor Center (6400') to the Third Burroughs (7828') and back, with maybe ~2500' of elevation gain and loss, taking into account the loss and gain between the Second and Third Burroughs. We at our lunch at a higher elevation than we'd ever hiked to previously. It took us 2:50 to get to the Third Burroughs, and 2:00 to get back. Total time on the trail: 5:20. We saw every Washington State volcano from the side of the largest. As always, a few more photos at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asmugglersbible/sets/72157621592012535/

Burrough’s x’3 Epic trip-My first mountain goat experience 7-15-09 Today Zachster and I met @ Sunrise and planned on doing the Burrough’s. I had only gotten to the 2nd one before. As soon as Nancy got there we took headed up the trail around 9:00 AM. It was a fantastic morning already, cool 45 degrees, lots of flowers, and nice breeze. The mosquitoes were quite annoying until after frozen lake. They bit me several times at frozen lake. The flowers are fantastic right now. Purples and yellows and a bit of red. I couldn’t believe all the snow was gone from the trail all the way until past 1st Burrough’s. And only a few easy spots to cross at 2nd. We ate a bite and headed down and then up to the third. It was getting hot at this point and I had a hat on. I saw the larger snow fields ahead and wondered if I could get to top, it looked so far away and I was hot! Nancy is so sweet and patient she said we can stop and rest and turn back whenever you want. She also suggested I take off my hat, that really helped. I pushed on and up and up following her boot steps until we made it! When I reached the top of the ridge and saw the 3rd Burrough’s for the first time I said “oh my god!” about 10 x’s and then cried! It was so amazing! So close and spectacular! I think Nancy cried a little too so I didn’t feel like such a “girl”. We saw a bunch of goats from above and I was bummed they were so far away. Nancy brought me a summit cookie, which was so good! I downed that in seconds while she took pictures..then we took in the mountain some more and headed down for glissade’s. Glissading was so fun! We got two long one’s in and one short one. After that I looked to the left saw the goats again and we were pretty close, we quickly threw down our packs and slowly made our way closer to them w/o disturbing them eating. I zoomed in best I could, didn’t get any fantastic shots, but it was still very exciting. This is as close as I’ve gotten, I counted 15. Then we made our way back to the car, slowly. Let’s see…to recap the day • Perfect weather • Nice breeze • Wonderful company with someone who loves Rainer as much as me • Summit cookie • Multiple Glissades • Goat encounters (15) • Marmots • Did I mention the views!? • Crying at the sight of the mountain • Flowers • Killer sunburn that will turn to tan very soon • Over 200 photos taken I don’t think I forgot anything… Today was hike #57 for 2009