This time of year if you get decent weather you'll never regret making the long drive to Sunrise. Summer crowds and gate-lines are gone, entry reservations are no longer required and parking is easy. The park has a low key vibe, preparations are underway for winter but there's still time to enjoy any last sunny days. Matching our hike to the clear skies and mellow temperatures we headed up the ridge to Dege Peak. I've never been before and thoroughly enjoyed both the trail and the summit. I loved all the little vistas down to the basin on the north side, each one with a slightly different outlook. The lower fall sun makes for dramatic shadowy scenery of the rocky outcrops. I was concerned the summit approach would be some kind of boot path spur, but it has a proper signed junction and switch backs. The top has space for quite a few people and came with a volunteer ranger pointing out all the good things, including the goat herds in the valley below. Outside of Burroughs 3 I'm not sure there's a more impressive view point from this section of the park. You get to enjoy not only staring at Mount Rainier but all the other major peaks and ranges on offer. Adams, the Cowlitz Chimneys, Tamanos, Stewart, Glacier - everyone is at the party. The predicted clouds absent, the air was clear, and the views superb.
Not wanting to serve ourselves short after back tracking from the summit we continued our ridge walk along Sourdough Ridge to the Frozen Lake junction. There are still some flowers and butterflies to enjoy and a marmot was knocking rocks on to the trail as he tried his best to scurry up the slope, his summer plump curtailing any kind of athleticism. The sun was warm here and the plants giving off that late summer herbal elixir. From the junction we could see clouds rolling towards us across the stark tundra of upper Berkeley Park, a reminder that the next weather system was headed in. So sad to think in a few weeks this will all be unavailable.
At Frozen Lake we turned back toward Sunrise dropping steeply down on the Wonderland/Shadow Lake loop. Not too many hikers here and making the hike a loop is always a treat. Final stats were close to 8 miles and around elevation gain of 1000 feet, although some of the rolling ups and down, specially that last half mile up, made it feel like a little more.
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