Comet Falls — Saturday, Jul. 30, 2016

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

Hiking this trail is a waterfall lovers paradise. From beginning to end, you can almost always hear and see them. This was a challenging but doable hike for my slightly arthritic, middle-aged soul. It's a popular hike, there were lots of kids, too. The way can be treacherous as the trail can be rocky and those rocks were wet and slippery. The sides of the trail boasted seasonable wildflowers. After an hour getting to Comet Falls (the spray was so refreshing) we pushed onward to Midlred Point in about 45 minutes. Wow!! What a reward. We stood and marvelled at the top of Rainier about 7,000 feet above us with the melting glaciers on the south, southwest side creating more waterfalls than we could see, with the clouds and fog rising in front of us and the thunder storm we lucked upon (fortunately we did not get drenched) and the relative aloneness that there is at Mildred Point...all worth it! Another side to this hike is Van Trump Park which is more like a meadow. The views of the sides of the top of Rainier are breathtaking! The mile marker posts said round trip it was 7 miles and about 2,000 feet elevation gain (and loss) Going down and back 3.5 miles just about did me in as going down is rough on the knees. This is a great hike for anyone moderately fit and not completely disabled by achy joints. Enjoy!!