American Ridge — Sunday, Jun. 29, 2014

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

Abandon all hope - actually, abandon most hope. I tried to get to American Ridge from 3 trailheads and was stymied at each. Pleasant Valley campground, as near as I can tell, doesn't have a trailhead any more. Trail 958B at the Fifes Peak viewpoint runs down to the American River but it's a dicey ford and there didn't seem to be much of a trail on the other side. And the Mesatchee trailhead seems to dead end about a half mile in at some campsites. I gave up and decided to go to Bumping Lake but coincidentally there's a fourth access point just a mile in from 410 on the Bumping Lake Road and this time the trail did actually go up to the ridge successfully. I would have tried the Goat Peak trail but figured there would still be a lot of snow up there. Lots of great wildflowers out now; saw some elk and a spectacular bird that I need to ID.