I didn’t have a timed entry permit, so I arrived at the Sunrise Visitor Center parking at 0630 on a Saturday. The parking lot was pretty full. It was a beautiful, sunny day with light winds and temps in the 50s.
The trail starts at the parking lot, crossing a service road, and continues to a vista of the Emmons glacier. The trail starts pretty wide, mostly dirt and gravel, but will narrow as you progress. The wildflowers were crazy! So many! I found a free brochure in the Visitor Center that I wish I had before the hike. It was very helpful for identifying the wildflowers.
This trail is mostly flat and runs parallel to the road to the parking lot, but you don’t see the road for the most part. There really isn’t a bad view for the first mile. I kept turning around for another view of the glacier. There is a sign at about the one mile mark indicating the trail is not maintained past this point and to keep on trail if you continue. I continued for almost another mile, until the trail really starting running out and I only had views of the Whitebark pine trees on the side of the trail.
I saw tracks for goats, but the only other wildlife I saw were birds, including a Clark Nutcracker. There is an ‘unofficial’ side trail to a big rock which makes for a great resting spot. You hear the water running off the mountain throughout the hike and get views of other nearby peaks, as well as, meadows.
This was an easy hike. The Park literature says the hike is 1.6M round-trip, but I hiked over 3 since I did not stop at the signage. I saw less than 10 people on the trail and most were starting when I was finishing my hike – one of the advantages of an early start.
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