Glacier Basin, Mount Ruth & Emmons Moraine — Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025

Did a quick overnight camp at Glacier Basin, with an ambition to ascend to Steamboat Prow as a day hike, inspired by this trip report:

Steamboat Prow, Mount Ruth, Glacier Basin & Emmons Moraine — Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025

I write this report from and for the perspective of a fairly experienced trail hiker looking to experiment with negotiating some climbers' tracks.

Alas, we didn't make it quite as far the Prow, topping out at just around 8000 ft, a few hundred feet below the climber's track around Mt. Ruth. However, the views of the Emmons Glacier and Little Tahoma up close and personal, as well as the sights and sounds of crackling ice, rockfall, and meltwater gushing into the White River were more than satisfactory as consolation prizes.

The trail up to Glacier Basin is well-trod and popular, if a bit steep on its last 1/2 mile -- it's the beginning of an "easy" route to summiting Rainier, as well as having a history of acting as a road to a defunct copper mining claim.

To get to the climber's track to achieve the ridgeline heading to Ruth, exit the Glacier Basin camp towards Inter Glacier and hang a left just after the "Trail Unmaintained Beyond This Point" sign towards Inter Fork. You'll see a cairn below marking a great spot to scout your crossing route, as well as soak your feet after you come back down.

Negotiate as safe a rock-hop route as you can across the Inter Fork's three channels towards an obvious bootpath, and begin the ascent after passing abandoned mining equipment on your left. There's a much clearer stream (vs. filling from the glacial flour-filled Inter Fork) to filter water from just past this point.

The next half mile or so is very steep, with extremely loose volcanic rock, sand, and lightly packed pebbles covering the route that snakes up through and past the tree line. It's certainly tiring going up, but much more dangerous coming down. Trekking poles and concentration are necessities. The track becomes slightly gentler as you climb higher towards the ridge, but still demands careful, deliberate steps.

After achieving the ridgeline, Little Tahoma and the Emmons Glacier rush into view. The path farther up is obvious here, and much more tame. Take your time and absorb all the sounds and sights, enjoying the light reflecting off the numerous crevasses and cracks in the ice.

We stopped just short of the three small snowfields still remaining under Mt. Ruth and headed back to camp, citing fatigue from trekking over choss and scree, diminishing daylight, and a potential for rain rolling in -- which fortunately did not materialize. For further ascent guidance, refer to the earlier mentioned trip report above as well as topographic maps like CalTopo or GaiaGPS.

Before departing Glacier Basin the next day, we did a quick morning hike up to Sherpa Rock, an excellent and rewarding viewpoint with just 1000 ft of ascent, to view the Inter Glacier (or what is left of it) and gaze down into the basin itself. As we headed back to the trailhead at the White River Campground, we did a quick look into the Emmons Moraine spur trail, but after seeing the glacier from above and up close, it was fairly underwhelming. Perhaps it's wiser to check out this diversion before trying the same ascent.