Been hiking in and around Mount Rainier for nearly 40 years and never took this trail until yesterday. That has been a BIG mistake! This trail, though short and without much elevation gain, is great. At the peak one can see Clover Lake, Surprise Lake and several ponds/tarns way, way below. Off in the distance, you can see the Freemont Lookout with the naked eye if you know where to look. And, of course, Mount Rainier reigns supreme. Now to the wildlife. At the peak, saw a raven and a cooper hawk playing "tag". Or was the hawk really after the raven? Hard to tell but the chase/tag was most thrilling to watch. On the way down, spotted three mountain goats on the rocky slopes below. Trail was also uncrowded despite it being a nice, sunny day. I'll be back for more.

Ethan & I needed an easy hike today so we drove to Sunrise and hiked out Sourdough Ridge to Dege Peak. The Mountain was clear when we arrived mid-morning, but by 1:00 she had socked herself in. There were a few nice wildflowers, but most of them were past. There were no bugs to speak of and not too many people for Rainier. The views, as usual, were magnificent.

Great day on this trail - much less traveled than other routes so only saw a few people - I continue to be amazed and very happy that the trails are so well maintained and free of trash. Lovely flowers, though not as many on this drier trail. FANTASTIC views - and a 360 view from peak. A few horseflies - no bites. Saw lovely butterflies, and birds.

Though it was cloudy in the metro area, it was bright and sunny at Sunrise. My unofficial theme for Hike-a-Thon this year is "trails at MRNP that I haven't gotten around to hiking yet", so my goal today was to tackle two trails in that area that I haven't had the chance to visit before: Dege Peak and Berkeley Park. I did Dege first and had the trail to myself most of the time. After that, I got onto the Sourdough Ridge trail and joined the conga line to Frozen Lake. From there, I descended to Berkeley Park. It was getting late in the day, so I didn't make it all the way to Berkeley Park camp, but I hiked down into the forest and enjoyed a few moments of solitude and silence there before heading back up to Frozen Lake, where I encountered a couple arguing loudly as he puffed on a cigarette and she sipped red wine from a Nalgene bottle. I know it was red wine because I saw the box from which she filled her water bottle. Moving swiftly along, I descended toward Shadow Lake/Sunrise Camp on the Wonderland Trail and almost immediately had to stop and assist with administering First Aid to a child belonging to a family of five that had made the journey in flip flops. Another good reason to carry your ten essentials: if not for yourself, then for the many woefully unprepared hikers that we encounter along the way. Due to cool temperatures and a nice breeze, bugs were barely noticeable today (of course, there always has to be that ONE horse fly). Wildflowers are beautiful. I logged somewhere close to 11 miles for Hike-a-Thon.