We did a 21 mile “lollipop” loop through Klapatche Park and St. Andrews Park, using the Westside Road as our starting and end point.
The St. Andrews Creek Trail is in great shape lower down, but once you gain the ridgeline of Klapatche Ridge, there are several downed trees to contend with. Some are easy to maneuver, others are quite large, with one large uprooted tree taking the trail with it. We hit snow just before arriving at Aurora Lake at about 5,450,’ but the shoreline closest to the Wonderland and Klapatche Park Camp is mostly melted out. Above Aurora Lake, it was maybe 55% snow, 45% open trail all the way through St. Andrews Park. We were happy to have traction spikes and trekking poles, because some of the angles and embankments are steep. We just took them on and off through the longer sections. There were also about five or so downed trees between Aurora and St. Andrews Lake. As for St. Andrews Lake itself, the outlet area is open, but the rest is still mostly frozen. Then, as we headed down the final ridge (toward South Puyallup Camp), the trail was snow free below 5,800’ with more downed trees, some rather large.
And on that note, between bridge repairs, trail maintenance and everything else, the NPS trail crews have their work cut out for them this season (and probably years into the future), especially with senseless budget and staff cuts. Which makes it even more imperative to be patient, leave no trace, and donate to amazing organizations such as WTA and Washington’s National Park Fund, which help support necessary projects around amazing places like Mt. Rainier.
The last things to note would be all the avalanche lilies and other wild flowers blooming along the trail (you’ll see a little bit of everything based on elevation). And the South Puyallup and Round Pass trails are both in great shape and super lovely!
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