A glorious day at the base of Mount Rainier! First mile of trail was obliterated by November 2006 floods, but new path is clearly flagged. Requires more scrambling over rocks than the old highway, though, so this trail is perhaps a bit harder for casual hikers than it used to be. After the first mile, the old tread is regained and we hit Glacier Basin just before lunch. There's been quite a bit of recent (black) bear activity, as evidenced by a tree at the entrance to the campsite that had about three feet of bark stripped away and VERY visible claw marks! (The log of bear activity and the two rangers who where there to "condition" the bear were also strong hints!) Regardless, we enjoyed a lovely (and bear-free) lunch while gazing up at the looming mountain above.

There were a lot of people on this date going to, from and through Glacier Basin. You can easily follow the yellow caution ribbons where you will zig zap over the creek. Once you get to the old mining road you can make it to the campsite. There are a LOT of bugs. I could hardly sit down while eating lunch without being bothered by them. There was no snow at all on or along the trail. There are red flags marking the way to Camp Sherman, which I did not go to. I advised some others not to go since they were not prepared.

Flood damage to the trail deters crowds to what is visually a beautiful landscape hidden under the shadow of Mount Rainier. Getting started was probably the most tedious part of the trip. With several ranger stations on the way to the trail, it is very confusing about where to stop to get the required permissions. To set things straight: get a $15 overnight parking pass at the drive-thru ranger station entrance to the park. As soon as you get this, drive and park on the right just past the backpacker registration building. Go in there and get registered if you are planning to camp up at the Glacier Basin campsite (car-accessible campground users do not pay here). We had to wait 15 minutes for this because the ranger was temporarily absent. After finally getting through the hurdles of registration, we started off on a snow-free and mostly mud-free portion of the flood damaged trail. It was fairly easy to navigate through this part of the trail: follow the yellow tape that marks the temporary trail, which is now quite well-defined by the steps of several years worth of hikers. There were a few stream-crossings, but some strategically-placed stones help avoid getting wet. At around a mile in, a beautiful waterfall on the right of the trail will help cool down overheating hikers. Once on the main trail, things start to get easier. After a bit of a dense forest section, meadows increase in frequency, some of which were in full bloom. Unfortunately, bugs also began to start their onslaught at this time. Repellent did not seem to help: cover up as much exposed skin as possible! The campsite itself was very dry and perhaps 40% full. The only company we had was a large group of summit-climbers. There were no encounters with large wildlife, though we did see numerous frogs in nearby ponds and streams, and there were a couple brief glimpses of marmots. Though the large meadow near the campsite had few blooming flowers, the mountain scenery was enough to compensate. The place was simply gorgeous. The main complaints were bugs (as mentioned) and water accessibility. The nearby river of the campsite was difficult to reach, and the water was quite silty. If you plan on resupplying water, bring a purifier, since boiling the water does not really get the silty taste out. Also, it may be a good idea to resupply most of the water on some of the streams before the campsite, which are less siltier and much easier to access. If you are going to need more water while camped, try the right-hand trail off to the left of the main meadow - it is slightly muddier, but there is no climbing involved.

The roads,parking lot and most of the White River Campground is snowfree. A few folks were wandering around trying to figure out why the campground was not open. (opens June 26th) Starting at about elevation 4350ft the lower half of the trail is basically snow free with only a few spots of snow and a few mud puddles. The trail is still wanded through the 2006 flood area. There was a WTA staff working with a NPS chainsaw crew to clear some logs including one section that has been rugged. By the time we got back that section was now easy passage. At about elevation 5350 the trail was covered in deep consolidated snow which requires good soles or YakTrax. Teh trail is easy to follow due to the bootpack traffic though more up and down to the snow banks. Some caution is required on some of the bridges. Glacier Basin campsites are all under 1-2 feet of snow. The attached images of Glacier Basin and the Inter Glacier speak for themselves. With plenty of sun, a few bugs, cool breezes it was perfect day for hiking.

Arriving at the White River campground (4200') at 7am found the climbers parking lot virtually empty giving notice summer is just about over. The lower part of the trail up to Glacier Basin that was seriously damaged from the past floods is well marked with yellow tape. Just need to keep your eyes open. The cloudless sky was full of the morning sun shadows providing sharp beautiful view of the top of Rainier. I arrived at Glacier Basin (5970') at about 8:30am and found only a few campers with plenty of open campsites. The bugs were super light due to the cool nights. The rest of the way up to the bottom of Inter Glacier was dry and hot in the open until I got right above the Wedge at about 6300' when the cold air coming off the glacier started picking up to add a light refreshing breeze. On approach the glacier was icy, dirty with vertical cuts where the water was cutting down into the glacier. Although I was watching and listening for rockfall I didn't see anything until I got to the bottom of the glacier (7158') when I started hearing golf ball and baseball size rocks zinging and landing around me. Looking up I could see every couple of minutes rocks quietly bouncing down the face, including the center. Without a helmet I beat a hasty retreat out of the dodgeball alley. Camp Schurman would have to wait until things cooled down and or they get some snow. The hike back down the trail found more folks coming up the trail but nothing like it had been three weeks prior. Go early and enjoy the solitude, views of mother nature at work, struggling wild flowers and a few signs of fall coming.