Skyline Trail Loop — Sunday, Jul. 26, 2009

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

We hit the upper skyline trail at about 7:15a on Sunday - having left the house at 5:15a in an attempt to beat the weekend crowds to Paradise. And we did. On the way up to McClure's rock, we encountered ten people hiking up, and another dozen coming down (all having summitted between midnight and 2p). The weather couldn't have been better - temperature in the mid to upper 60's during the hike up, rising to the mid-70's by the time we reached the Paradise in at about 10:10a later that morning. And the trails were just starting to fill up at about 9:30 to 10a, with the parking lot full as we drove away and the parking spaces full to about half-way around the Paradise Valley loop. The string of cars encountered entering the park as we drove out made me VERY happy we'd gotten an early start. The trail is familiar to me now - I've hiked it a number of times. But this was the first time for my wife and 22 yr. old son. This trail blows me away every time I hike it - and my wife and son fell in love with it immediately. I tend to prefer hiking in the Sunrise area - finding the more sweeping views of valley below to summit above to be more pleasing. But the more in-your-face views of Rainier from the upper skyline trail PLUS the spectacular views of the Tatoosh Range to the south, and Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens beyond make this hike as much a favorite as Burroughs Mountain 2 & 3 - if not more so. It's a well maintained trail - and listed as a "difficult" hike in most guidebooks. However, in our opinion it's no more difficult than Burroughs Mtn. 2 - which is a moderate hike. We chose to hike a bit above McClure's Rock on this day - and were sorely tempted to hike to Muirs Cabin, but don't yet have crampons or ice axes and didn't want to be the idiot marmot petters who required rescue due to lack of proper equipment for the snowfields above. We paused a long time (20 minutes) at the the top of the upper skyline trail, soaking in the views, taking photos, and just chatting. We chose to hike the preferred clockwise route - relatively direct climb with great views of Rainier, and a more gradual descent through snowfields and beautiful meadows (although stark "alpine desert" for about 2/3 mile at the upper portion of the trail), with increasingly beautiful views of the Tatoosh on the way down. Burroughs is the hike to take on the Sunrise side (Summerland is great too, many prefer it), and IMO "Panorama Point" aka Upper Skyline Trail is the hike to take on the Paradise side. But, in the summer and early fall - come either very early in the day, or on a weekday!