We arrived in the Paradise Parking lot on a Wednesday evening... probably around 6:30 PM and found plenty of parking. From there we took a right and went to Myrtle Falls. We walked a little past the falls to see how the wildflowers looked but there wasn't much color or variety in the Golden Gate meadows above the falls.

We decided to head back down and took the junction toward the Alta Vista trail where we went up the steep paved part of the Skyline trail and found lots of flowers at Paradise Park! Lots of Lupine, Paintbrush, Aster, and much more.

From here we went a little further up on the Deadhorse Creek Trail and got some nice views of the Mountain. We took a different way down along the Waterfall Trail. There were also lots of wildflowers here but no views of the mountain once we got to the basin.

I'm including a GPS track of the route we took in the links below.

Bugs were pretty awful the whole time. We reapplied DEET several times and still came out with a few bites.

We also saw a deer alongside the trail and a large marmot whistling from a rock in Paradise Park.

Glorious day on the Skyline Trail! Sunny and nearly cloudless conditions. This meant the trail was packed with many hikers enjoying the magenta paintbrush in bloom and admiring marmots living their best lives. Most everyone was friendly. We saw grouse and chipmunk (being hand-fed at Panorama Point :( ) and heard the rumble of a large rock slide west of Nisqually glacier. Hikers please remember to stay on the trails especially on the Golden Gate switchbacks. It’s tempting to cut across the delicate subalpine terrain but staying in the trails minimizes damage and maximizes enjoyment for all. We left the park from the Longmire exit around 2 PM and the backup to get in was over a mile long!  

We arrived at Paradise around 9. Both upper and lower parking lots were already full.  

We hiked counterclockwise.  The supports under the first wooden bridge (after Skyline trail veers to the right) have collapsed.  Despite sagging in the middle it seemed stable enough when we crossed over.  The hillsides are abloom with paintbrush, pasqueflower, pink mountain heather, lousewort, bistort and lupine.  We saw columbine in a couple of spots. There was a bear in a distant meadow, and we watched until it ambled out of sight.  Also watched a squirrel enthusiastically munching away on lupine.  The areas by the creek are a fairytale green as usual. Saw one clump of penstemon and a few bog gentian and monkeyflower. There is still a smallish snowfield blocking Skyline trail close to where Golden Gate branches off, so hikers were following the winter ski trail.  

The slopes of upper Golden Gate trail are blanketed with  white wildflowers. More and more color as we descended.   Lupine does not seem to be as prolific  this year.   Fantastic view of the Tatoosh range  in the distance from this trail. We watched a marmot and her younglings lounging on a rock while 2 other marmots munched away nearby. A pika scurried across the trail in front of me so quickly I didn’t have a chance to take a photo.  We counted a dozen marmots while heading down the trail.  

Despite the “partly sunny” forecast the summit was hidden by clouds our entire hike. 

Saw a couple of WTA workcrews during our hike.  Thank you for your work!

By the time we exited at 2:30pm there was a 1.8 mile long queue of cars waiting to enter the park.

Arrived at Paradise parking lot around 9:30am. Most parking spaces taken, we were lucky to find one. We got on the Skyline trail to Myrtle Falls, and then hiked up the Golden Gate trail, then back on to the Skyline trail to get to Panorama Point. The Golden Gate trail had wildflower meadows in bloom, more views of waterfalls, and we saw two Marmots along the way up. The switchback was steep, as was the section of Skyline to Panorama point. It was all worth it for the nonstop views we had.

We took the Golden Gate trail to its junction with the Skyline trail. Plenty of flowers but not the best display this year. Marmots on display as usual on the switchbacks up to the junction with the Skyline Trail. South on the Skyline trail there are still snow patches but paths are well trodden, but beware trying to follow the actual trail there, as you may find yourself going through the snow to the hips where it is hollowed out. We branched off onto the Lakes trail and continued south through beautiful meadows of wildflowers with backup views of Mount Rainier.

After a snack at Faraway Rock, we decided to avoid the knee crunching descent to Reflection Lakes and take the High Lakes trail shortcut which goes up and down through forest. The 'high lakes' are mere ponds now, some of them already dried up. Once in the forest we began to pick up mosquitos and biting flies. Above tree line there was a nice breeze, however. One caution about taking this route in a clockwise fashion. The trail reaches an unmarked fork where to the left there appears to be a couple of logs across a dry stream bed. If you continue straight the trail seems unmaintained and eventually you will come to a very sketchy area where the trail has fallen away and crossing is very risky. The correct route is to the left across the logs.

There were many wildflowers on display besides the usual lupine, paintbrush, cinquefoil, valerian, pasqueflower and bistort. Glacier lilies were still to be seen where snow had recently melted, as well as beargrass and phlox. Many of the lousewort varieties gathered in small groups along the way, including bracted parrot's beak, bird's beak, and sickle top (you may have to lift a petal to see the tiny sickle inside). There was also some sporadic marsh marigold and yellow beards tongue. Within a few days many will begin to fade in the heat.

Among wildlife surprises were a grouse in the trail puffing its throat, spreading its tail and scratching a hollow in the dust, and in the U of the road descending from Paradise where the trail ascends to the parking lot, a deer and a young black bear mindlessly munching away.