Today we took a 10 mile outing to visit Comet Falls, up into Van Trump Park, and then continued down and over to Mildred Point, before heading back along the Comet Falls Trail.

The trail up to Comet Falls was nice and shaded in the morning (and quite cool and refreshing beside the spray of the falls), but we quickly felt the heat of the sun as we broke out into the open park spaces. The unmaintained trail into Van Trump Park was a pretty good shape, too, aside from a few rutted spots in the steeper sections. The route is easy to follow, and we went up to about the 6,550’ level.

Heading down and over to Mildred Point, we were excited to check that out because we hadn’t hiked up there before. The sign at the Van Trump Trail junction was slightly misleading, as it says “Mildred Point 1.0,” but it’s really 1mi to the next junction with the Mildred Point Trail, which is another .5mi to Mildred Point itself. So a 3mi round trip excursion, as opposed to 2mi—so not a huge deal, but worth noting.

The hike up to Mildred Point itself was pretty, although a few steep, sandy sections. But Mildred Point itself really takes your breath away, as it feels like the whole mountain opens up in front of you. Well worth the extra effort, even on a hot day!

We then retraced our steps down to Comet Falls (and one more opportunity to cool off beside the spray), before making our way back to the parking lot. Our total ascent was about 3,300’ over the 10+ miles.

I clicked fall foliage in the highlights section. Oh my goodness, the leaves are starting to turn. The Comet Falls trail is a rocky, rooty climb. There are high step ups, a crib staircase with no railing, and a cool log bridge with a single handrail. The wildflowers are minimal to Comet Falls but the berries are going to town. There are still some late season bursts of color, but you won't get your wildflower fix if you are only going to Comet Falls. No blowdowns or washouts. Almost no trash! 

The trail up to Van Trump is the story of steps. A lot of steps. I thought maybe the one really high step up that is basically half your height had been tended to. But then there it was, worse than before. This isn't an easy trail. But you will get your wildflower fix for sure. So much lupine! There was a large herd of mountain goats around 6000ft that prevented me from continuing on. I decided to give them their space and turn around. Maybe I was pooped too because I gave in real easy. The true story is that I was watching the goats move down toward the trail...toward me and I turned and saw a light tan animal on a rock. In my imagination it was a cougar staring at me. I think it was an elk in reality but the damage was done. I was alone and got spooked and had the jitters. So I turned back. Once I turned back the goats went back up the hillside. I had great chats with fellow hikers. One couple told me about a black bear off in the distance, so I parked myself on a rock and watched the dancing black dot while I had my lunch. The beautiful places we have have our lunches, right? 

Last thing:

Looks like there are a bunch of closures at the mountain this coming week. Here's the link to see where the closures are happening: Park Contruction-Mount Rainier

Comfortable cooler weather this week made this steady climb to Comet Falls and Mildred Point a bit easier with Tacoma Mountaineers.

ENTRANCE: Nisqually entrance was ranger ready for the day just prior to 7 am. We had 2 cars ahead of us and the line clogged quickly after that.

PARKING: is limited to twenty spots so go early. We ended up having a car parked at Longmire so ended up starting at the Van Trump trailhead, hiking to the falls then up to Van Trump Park and Mildred Point. We then headed to Longmire down the ridge to Rampart Ridge.

TRIP: Bloucher and Comet falls were beautiful. Along the way the ripened salmon berries were a delicious addition to the morning. Van Trump Park was still in bloom with wildflowers as well as the steep bank leading to Mildred Point. We saw one small mountain goat over at Mildred. Spectacular views of Adams, St. Helens and the Tatoosh Range. Plentiful blueberries down the Rampart Ridge CW to Longmire.

Back to the cars and a 10 minute drive to pick up to the other cars.

9 miles 3000+ gain/4000- down

This is a rocky trail with a very pleasant waterfall at the end. The spectacular Comet Falls is well worth all the step ups to get there! Just a few bugs… virtually none. If you have creaky joints or trouble with balance, don’t forget your poles. :)

Having done Comet Falls as an out and back, I was intrigued to try it as a loop with the extension of Rampart Ridge by way of Van Trump Park.  A friend had met us for the day hike, so we had two vehicles, leaving one at Longmire and the other at the Comet Falls trailhead. Without the two vehicle option, you would face a long back on the NPS road. The climb to Comet Falls was great again, with fabulous wildflowers: twin flower, various louseworts, rosy spirea, pentstamon and many more.  Pikas in scree slopes en route.We climbed up to Van Trump Park and then back via Rampart Ridge, crossing Van Trump Creek over a log foot bridge.  Good water sources on the way except for the last 3 miles along Rampart back to Longmire. We did partway to Mildred Pt but decided against the whole route due to bad trail condition. But great view of Mt St Helens up Mildred Pt trail and from Van Trump, of Mt Adams and the Tatoosh. Marmot along upper reaches of Van Trump Creek. I probably would not do this loop route again though and keep Comet Falls as an out-and-back because Rampart gets very tedious and long without much to see. The first part after Mildred Point intersection drops down with lots of switchbacks and elevation loss. After that, a steady straight slog along the ridge without views.