Took a beautiful drive up to Mt Rainier National Park today. Luckily most of the cars that had the same idea headed up to Paradise. I'm sure it was busy.

ENTRY: Due to fed government shut down there is limited amenities but the drive was pretty.

PARKING: There were quite a few cars at the Comet Falls lot. My guess if you get there past 10:00 it would be full.

SMOKE: Air quality was in the 60s moderate.

TRIP REPORT: The beginning of the trail is wide after the first 1/2 mile it starts becoming rocky with switchbacks. There is pretty vine maples turning color now. A few pikas greeted us here and there up the hill.

At Comet falls we enjoyed the views and lingering warm breezes. Also ran into a few people we know from the Mountaineers in Tacoma.

At Van Trump park we couldn't take our eyes off the mountain with the dusting of new snow and east and west Van Trump falls. We continued up the unmaintained trail until we reached about 6700' and watched a herd of about 10 goats enjoying the meadows.

Our trip to Mildred ended here. After enjoying the goats and watching their movement, we had little daylight left to ramble up to Mildred.

8 miles, 3300' elevation gain 

This was the first time I’ve hiked this trail. Weather forecasted rain, but the rain held up the whole time. Got to the trailhead and started just before sunrise (0645). There were two cars in the parking lot. I rucked with 35 pounds and got a good sweat in. Epic waterfalls all along the way. It took about an hour to get to the main falls. I explored for about 30 to 40 minutes. I’m glad I brought an extra pair of socks because as I was traversing across beneath the falls, it gets slippery and my feet slipped in completely. I couldn’t ask for a better hike. Reached my car by 0905.
Highly recommend!

Got to the trailhead about 0645. 2 cars in the parking lot. Had a great ruck and made it to the main falls in a little over an hour. The trail follows the falls all the way up. It’s pretty epic! Glad I brought an extra pair of socks. I slipped while traversing across the water near the base of the falls. I hung out for about 45 min then headed back. Made it to the car by 0900. Great hike if you wanna get in and out.
Highly recommend!

Hiked up past Comet Falls into Van Trump Park, and kept going until reaching a small climber's camping area at 7,200ft. Side trip to Mildred Point on the way out.

Road Conditions. Paved road and parking lot, no facilities.

Trail Conditions. For what I remembered as being a "tourist" trail, there was a surprising amount of roots and rocks on the way to Comet Falls... The trail actually improved a bit above the falls, and was decent until 6,100ft (a good turnaround point). Upon transitioning from the subalpine to the alpine, the trail wasn't always well defined, and there was plenty of loose dirt/gravel/rocks. The trail heading towards Mildred Point had been brushed out thoroughly, up to the river crossing. Past that, the trail was still easy to follow, but there were sections where it heads straight uphill on soft/sandy soil.

Water. Plentiful water in the big streams, but if you didn't want to clog your filter with silty water, there were some small streams just above Comet Falls. No running water higher up, until reaching the climber's camp, which is just above a stream.

Highlights. Saw (or heard) pikas in every pile of rocks along the trail to the falls. Several mountain goats above Van Trump Park. Blueberries in the Van Trump Park area were pretty much done, but still plentiful in one of the meadows below Mildred Point. Some fall colors.

Air Quality. Good for most of the day, moderate in the late afternoon. Mt St Helens and Mt Adams were visible.

Crowds. 10-minute wait at the Nisqually entrance at 11am. Got the last proper parking spot at 11:30am, there is space for ~15 cars. Encountered maybe 10 parties between the trailhead and Comet Falls, another 10 or so going up to Van Trump Park, and only one person on the trail to Mildred Point.

Got to the trailhead around 7 AM to avoid construction delays and find parking. There is no privy at the trailhead, so stop at Longmire before you get here. 

The trail to Comet Falls starts off with good tread, and then it's all rocky and gets a little steep too. You pass through a talus field with basalt columns, and pika chirping and playing hide and seek. There is a dense group of vine maples here and they will look beautiful in the fall. Also quite a few yellow cedar trees, including young ones just next to the trail. If you look carefully at the rocks here, you will also spot British Soldier Lichen.

Bloucher Falls is also pretty, and a sign here tells you Comet Falls is 200 feet away, in case you mistake this one for Comet Falls and turn back I guess? You get good views of Comet Falls for quite a while as you make your way closer to it, and at one of the switchbacks you can get quite close to the bottom of the falls and soak yourself in its spray.

I kept climbing and visited Van Trump Park up until the sign that says the trail is unmaintained beyond here. The lupine is all but gone and the western pasqueflower seedheads are the only wildflowers on display here. There were plenty of blueberries/huckleberries though, the bushes were loaded. The next show here is going to be in the fall with the berry and other bushes (Cascade mountain ash?) turning fiery red.

After Van Trump Park I retraced my steps and a grouse got upset at me. I assume she was protecting her chicks, but I had to shoo her away after she refused to get off the trail.

I continued on to cross Van Trump creek on a log bridge, with Upper Comet Falls visible upstream and went up to Mildred Point. The trail up from the junction is quite steep and there is a sandy section as well to add to the adventure. No switchbacks on this part of the trail.

Here under some bushes I watched a male grouse sounding out its call, it was cool to finally see for myself since I've heard this so many times on hikes: https://youtu.be/L7QmF_r_qoQ

The view from Mildred Point was quite amazing, the mountain from here is more barren and the lower part with waterfalls looks more like Loowit Falls on Mount St. Helens.

With the haze from the smoke, I could barely see Mt. St. Helens and other peaks from here today.