This was a new trail for us - great views from the top. Probably some of the best views I've seen of Rainier from a sub-5/6 mile hike. Similar to the Red Top lookout.
We arrived at 7:30am on a Sunday at the trailhead and were the first car there. Didn't see another person the whole way up until someone caught us right at the summit. Saw about 10 groups on the way back down, about 50% mask-wearers. Parts of the trail are pretty narrow but we were mostly able to keep 6 feet of distance with a little work.
The road to the trailhead is no joke. We have an AWD Toyota Highlander and made it through, but the two or three big rock fields in the road definitely had me worried we were going to bottom out or pop a tire. I wouldn't even try going past that first rockfield in a sedan - that's where most cars were parking, and that area was very crowded by the time we came back down around 11am.
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