Sourdough Ridge — Sunday, Sep. 8, 2013

Mount Rainier Area > NE - Sunrise/White River

We wanted to a little hiking when we got here. We had hiked a bunch the day before and the others in my party were not up to doing Burroughs mtns. Instead we hiked Sourdough trail out to frozen lake. First, if you have never been to Sunrise, come early as this place seems to get packed with people and cars. The drive to Sunrise was a neat drive with lots of views. And once you get to Sunrise, there are even better views of Mt. Rainier. If at all possible, come on a clear day. The view is just awesome. The trail is decent. There are many rocks in the trail so you do have to keep you eyes on the ground to step over these. This trail was also being heavily used---meaning we saw/passed dozens of people that day. On the way to Frozen Lake, the views to the north(away from Rainier) were great. You can look down into the valley below which would have been great but Rainier is definately the attention hog on this hike. We were a little disappointed when we reached Frozen Lake only to find out that it is fenced off and actually a water source for Sunrise. I think the trail might have been 1-1.5 miles each way and doable for kids. The steepest part of the trail is the very begining. After that it slopes up and down but is not steep. Also take sun protection as you are exposed to the sun most of the way. We had no problems with bugs of any kind. When you get back to Sunrise, there is a decent snack shop but be wared that the prices are pretty steep.