The forecast mentioned light rain starting at 11pm on Wednesday. Despite this, we decided to do an out-and-back and overnight on Tatoosh Lookout, as there looked to be even worse weather over the weekend.
Day 1:
We started at the “Tatoosh Trail 161” (Tatoosh Trail North). There were about 5 other cars although we did not encounter anyone else on the trail (they were likely doing a car shuttle of the ridge). We did a side trip to Tatoosh Lakes to get some water for our night on Tatoosh Lookout. With our 4 liters each, we hiked up to Tatoosh Lookout. We decided to pitch our tent at the other end of the ridge for possible maximum views of Rainier. Although we never got to see the entire mountain, the fall colors during sunset were gorgeous.
That night, our tent got pounded by heavy rain and wind. We ended up having to get out during the night to guy our tent out a bit better.
Day 2:
The morning met us with continuous heavy rain. Since we could get a cell reception from the peak, we decided to check the forecast. After seeing that the weather would improve during the day, we were not in a hurry to pack up. When the rain stopped, we packed up and left camp. The magical light on the hills lit up the fall colors. On the way out, we hiked up Peak 6037 to get some additional views of Rainier.
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