We came to Rainier for some fall colors and peak-bagging. The weather, especially in the morning, made for a spectacular outing!
We arrived at Reflection Lake/Pinnacle Saddle trailhead around 8am and got our gear sorted. The hike to the saddle was beautiful: views of sunlit Rainier behind us the whole way, dew and frost on bushes, and a lovely dirt trail which gave way to crushed rock higher up. At the saddle, we had views of Adams, Hood, and Helens before haze obscured those views around lunchtime. In the morning, we were also treated to frosty huckleberries on our hike to Lane Peak.
We spent the rest of our day along the ridge, scrambling to the top of Plummer, Denman, Lane, Pinnacle, and the Castle. Some of these were more just hikes, others required scrambling, and we needed ropes/harnesses to rappel from Castle. In total, it took us about 9 hours to do 9 miles. Sounds like a leisurely day when you don’t count the scrambling!
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