What an unexpected gem! We were thinking of doing Comet Falls until a friend said - do Pinnacle instead. And because we've seen ~10,491 waterfalls in the past year we figured, why not!?! (We'll be doing Comet soon though!)
Timed entry - we had the first shift, 7-9AM. Got to the Nisqually entrance at 7:30 and had ~5 cars in front of us. Took about 5 minutes to get through. Having the timed entry pass on my phone & the park pass ready to go made things super easy.
Now to the trail...
#alwaysreviewthetoilets 🧻 - there are none! Either stop at Longmire or head up to the Paradise visitor center to do your business. This trail had so so so many wildflowers I wouldn't feel comfortable stepping off.
There was ample parking when we arrived. Right across from the TH is a decent sized lot for people snapping photos at Reflection Lake. I'd imagine there's pretty high turnover there. If possible, back in to your space if you can. Stevens Canyon Rd is pretty busy and it's easy to pull out into traffic than back out.
The trail itself is in really good condition. There are a couple of really minor muddy spots that one can get around. And there's another relatively short section with water running down the middle of the trail. Nothing horrible. Probably just remnants of the snow melt. Speaking of snow, there was only 1 maybe 10 foot section to traverse. I wouldn't be surprised if that's gone by now.
One other thing I'd say about conditions is that you will have to rock hop 2 minor streams. Like 3 rocks each. The approach to one of the streams has a slick rock that's on a pretty good incline. If it was dry - super easy. But it was a bit muddy and wet and slick. Much to my surprise I did not fall!! So be careful and you'll be fine.
The bugs were pretty annoying, weren't biting - but I also wasn't gonna give them the chance, so I threw on some bug spray just to be sure. They completely left me alone after that.
It's really a tale of 2 trails on your way to the saddle. The first half is a nice little forest walk. The second half is crossing scree / talus. Some of it is loose. Footing can be a pain. Do not let that dissuade you, just FYI.
Still with me - cuz here we got with the good stuff. WILDFLOWERS AND VISTAS!! Holy moly! We're talking white pasqueflower, avalanche lilies, Indian paintbrush, some that I have no idea what they are.
And then the views. When Rainier decides to show off - it shows off. Views pretty much the whole way. Then when you do get to the saddle we had views of Mt Adams in the distance.
So yeah - super glad we did Pinnacle!
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