Hiked most of Norse Peak, on a gorgeous day. Mt. Rainier starts out hidden, but then starts looming above the ridge to the south. There are glimpses of Mt. St. Helens up high, too. The forest in the upper half of the hike consists of burnt ghost trees that are truly striking.
The trail is well maintained and easy to follow. Any type of shoe would suffice until you get up high where the snow starts (maybe 3 to 3.5 miles in?) We got to the snow and followed the only other obvious set of footprints, and after a while realized the last person had followed a goat path, not the trail. We backtracked and found the actual trail (about 5 to 10 mins after the snow starts), but after just a couple of minutes, the trail disappeared under the snow and there were no more footprints, so there was nothing to go on. We could have just made our way randomly up through the snow, but it's pretty steep and the snow was slippery, so we headed back, probably skipping the last mile or so.
If you know this trail well, I'm sure you could find your way up, or there are alternate hikes in the area that we were told have less snow up high.
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