Gobblers Knob — Saturday, Jun. 29, 2002

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

We hiked up the closed Westside Road to Round Pass and then to Lake George. The road is in good condition, except for a collapsing bridge over Fish Creek and a couple of fallen logs. We encountered no snow on the road itself. Early spring flowers, including bear grass, arnica, wild strawberry, yellow violet, Oregon anemone, bluebells and salmonberry are blooming along the road, which makes an easy hike in itself. There were glacier lilies blooming in the forest. Views were limited due to cloud cover in the morning. Upon reaching Round Pass we took off on the gently climbing Gobbler's Knob trail. There is a lot of fallen debris and some sizable logs across the trail. We also hit snow patches at about 4000 feet with continuous snow at about 4300 feet. We reached the lake without too much difficulty. The campground and lakeshore is under about 3 feet of snow and the lake is just beginning to shed its icy covering. We could see the Knob above and attempted to follow the trail, but only made it to the basin below the Knob. From there the way was very steep, snow-covered and slippery. Wait a week or two before attempting. The snow cover was pretty firm in the morning and only softened in open areas. Per usual with snow travel, watch for weakening snow bridges and ice patches. Having ski poles or walking sticks is also a good idea (or an ice axe if you have the training). In the afternoon, from the Marine Memorial, we were able to get a glimpse of the Tahoma Glacier. It was also interesting to view the destructive path of the Tahoma mudslide down Tahoma creek. It was a good outing with an amiable group. Another note: This area doesn't seem to be heavily used. We only saw a couple of people the whole day on the road and no one else on the Gobbler's Knob Trail.