A happy eventful morning MON 17jul2023 while doing a ramble of Emmons Moraine Trail, Glacier Basin Trail .. for i had my first ever Bear sighting .. 😃👍😅

After viewing Emmons Moraine, and getting on ~0.2 mi of Glacier Basin Trail, ~(B), from the bush on my front-left ~15 ft ahead, a brown bear dashed out from the bush .. and ran across a small clearing to another bush area. i waited for a minute or 2, hoping to see the bear again, but it's disappeared 😪 i would guess that the bear was ~3+ ft at the shoulder, ~5+ ft in length .. a beauty 👍👍👍 

Spotted total ~10 chipmunks, and some wildflowers.

My O&B route: (P) > (E) > (B) > Glacier Basin Camp > ~0.6 mi of "Un-maintained Trail" to (V) > (P). Lovely views of Emmons Moraine, and at (V) .. with peak-a-boo view of Mount Rainier .. 

The ~0.6 mi of "Un-maintained" trail between Glacier Basin Camp and to my turn-around at (V) was a "mix" of dirt, rocks, loose stones, sandy, dirt .. i did alright with my Trekking Poles and treading v carefully .. 

On my way OUT to Emmons Moraine, i passed 2 Day-Hikers who were leisurely-paced going OUT too. From Emmons Moraine to (V), i only encountered a man and his boy coming Back (Backpacking). After turning around at (V), from the Glacier Basin Camp to (P), encountered a total of ~12x Day-Hikers, and 3x Backpackers coming in. Everyone was cheery and friendly.

i was the ~8th to arrive at the Hikers-Picnickers parking at ~06:15. When i got Back ~5+ hours later, it was almost full.

Stats per Gaia: Distance 10.1 mi / Ascent 2559 (-2607) ft / Total Time 5:42 / Moving Time 5:02

Happy Trails Everyone 🌈

Beautiful day and hike. Got there about 7:15 am,10-15 parking spots still available. Wildflowers blooming, maybe a week before they will be in full bloom near Glacier Basin. Bugs not too bad, didn't even need bug spray. Not too crowded early. Wonderful hike!

FYI, met couple trying to get to Mt. Ruth using Emmons Moraine trail. Couple could not complete loop beyond where trail was maintained due to significant overgrowth.  

Beautiful day and hike. Got there about 7:15 am,10-15 parking spots still available. Wildflowers blooming, maybe a week before they will be in full bloom near Glacier Basin. Not too crowded early. Wonderful hike!

FYI, met couple trying to get to Mt. Ruth using Emmons Moraine trail. Couple could not complete loop beyond where trail was maintained due to significant overgrowth.  

It was a perfect day. Not too hot, and remarkably few bugs. I started on the trail just before 9 AM and the parking lot at White River still had space (nice to be able to go on a weekday). The Glacier Basin trail is in great shape, and I appreciate its very steady climb. Lots of wildflowers blooming. I don't know their names, but Outside Nancy's report from the same day gives a comprehensive list.

The maintained trail doesn't continue very far past Glacier Basin Camp, and although the views are great there, I wanted to see more terrain. The trail was easy to follow, and I continued about 3/4 mile more to 6600 feet elevation. I saw 4 climbing parties going up, and a pair of laid-back day hikers who went farther than I did.

On the way back I took the spur to the Emmons Moraine Trail. Will cover that in a separate report. Total including the spur was 9.8 miles and 2900 feet of climb.

We had a fantastic day hiking to Glacier Basin! The lot was 3/4 full when we pulled in just after 9:00 AM.  It was 58 degrees with clear blue skies.  The perfect conditions for hiking! The entire trail was dry and hard packed except a couple small stream crossings.  Our group of 14 had the trail entirely to ourselves all the way to the basin.  Wildflowers are on full display, we saw vanilla leaf, queens cup, corral root, yellow and magenta monkey pod, blue bells, pearly everlasting, penstemon, paint brush, lousewort, sagifrax, thistle, cusick speedwell, shooting stars, Columbine and cow parsley. We arrived at the basin just before noon and wound our way down to the boulders in the river bed and spread out for a lunch break scattered among the boulders. A nice north breeze was coming down the mountain to keep things cool.  A few hikers were further up the basin toward InterGlacier and several groups behind us on the trail started arriving near Glacier Basin Camp when we started down at 12:45. Wildlife sightings were limited to a couple frogs, chipmunks and a few bird species were heard calling. The few bugs we encountered were not really bothersome. We passed one large group of 12 climbers and 3 smaller groups of 2 headed up to InterGlacier and Camp Sherman for Mt Rainier summit attempts in a couple days.  We took the side spur over to the Emmons Glacier overlook trail and found more eye catching views of the emerald green pond/lake, the White River headwaters coming out of the glacier moraine and a different view of Mt Rainier.  Many more day hikers were just starting out when we arrived back at the White River Camp Ground at 2:45.  Our out & back hike with the side spur was 8 miles with 1,750’ gain. Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.