Fremont Lookout — Sunday, Jun. 26, 2016

Mount Rainier Area > NE - Sunrise/White River

This is my first ever WTA trip report! I thought it was a good time to start since it seems we are the first to leave a report this season. We decided to go today since it's the last weekend the Sunrise road is closed to cars (the road opens to public on 7/1). The plan was to bike the road and enjoy a nice ride without traffic, leave the bikes at the Sunrise Visitor's Center, then continue on foot to the Fremont Lookout and enjoy an uncrowded trail. We were not sure how much snow we would encounter on the hike. I am happy to say that there was much less snow than we expected, only a few patches that were pretty easy to cross. The largest snow patch was actually right as we left the parking lot. I expect in about two weeks the snow on the trail will be almost entirely melted. This is definitely a great hike for a tremendous reward for relatively little effort. In addition to the obvious landmarks (Rainier, Grand Park, Skyscraper, etc.) we could see the Olympics, Columbia Tower, Baker, Glacier, Stuart + the Stuart Range, and many other Cascade peaks from the lookout.