Shriner Peak — Sunday, May. 28, 2017

Mileage: Approx. 7.9 miles RT Elevation Gain: 3,430 feet

Timeline: Ascent: 3 hrs. Descent: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

Gear: Hikking poles, microspikes recommended. 

With a final hiking outing prior to finals for pharmacy school, we headed out to Mt Rainier and scored a permit for Shriner Peak Campground. We began at 1700 on Sunday. The trail was in great shape until approximately 2.6 miles in where we began to consistently hit snow, but soft - no microspikes needed the entire way to the lookout, just poles. We made it to the lookout at 2000 and set up camp just in time for the sunset.

There are two campsites (hard to tell with the snow). The ranger was staying in the lookout for the first time this season as well. He kindly stored our food for us since so many of the trees were so buried for bear bag storage. Double check with the ranger if you should bring blue bags or not for overnight outtings as the vault toilet was not dug out yet. 

We woke up around 0500, made breakfast, broke down camp and descended at 0645 with microspikes since the snow was firmer. Great trip overall!