Cloudy in Seattle and beautiful on the trail. Pleasant surprise and a great day out for the family. Good trail for the kids age 6 and 8. Flowers, waterfalls, lakes and views of Rainier were amazing. Great day. Return trip around Elbe in early evening included elk and deer.

There is a sign in the window of the Sunrise ranger station, which says ‘climate is what you expect, weather is what you get’. To this end we have become obsessed with the weather, so at 4am when we left Canada we checked the weather once again. It said sun, sun and more sun for all of Western Washington, and specifically Mt. Rainier. This was important as every time we are near this mountain it is obscured by clouds and on our loan visit to the park we hiked a trail without a view of this great mountain. Unfortunately weather forecasts aren’t worth the HTML they’re coded from and soon after leaving our house we were enveloped in fog. We listened to the radio forecast, which now stated clouds, drizzle and more clouds. Imagine our surprise then we when drove up the road to Sunrise and saw Rainier in it’s full glory surrounded by a pocket of blue sky. Great mountains create their own weather and for once it seemed as if this was working to our advantage. We hiked up Burroughs Mountain doing a loop that started at Sourdough Ridge and wound past Frozen Lake and Berkeley Park. On the trail up to the first summit there is a small snowfield which apparently deters the sneaker crowd, we had no problems and never took our ice axes out of our packs. On the short steep section we saw four goats that scampered along the cliffs swiftly as if walking on air. On the summit there was the most delightful meadow full of ground hugging yellow and purple flowers. Chomping on these flowers and digging holes was the most fearless marmot we have ever encountered. Rendering our telephoto lens useless is came up real close patiently posing in front of Rainier until we had consumed an entire roll of film. A park ranger soon joined us and he warned us not to try and pet them (Duh!). The view and the flowers up on second Burroughs were even better. We pressed on crossing a few easy snowfields and lots of moraine until we came to the summit of third Burroughs Mountain. From here Rainier is so close you cannot capture it all on a single frame of film. Views are extensive from Fryingpan Glacier to Liberty Ridge. Especially neat for us were seeing the little tarns of Windy Gap where we had hiked and camped the previous year. All along the park perimeter on the west and north sides hung a solid wall of cloud which threatened to rush in at any minute. As we started back a few wispy clouds drifted across Winthrop Glacier however the mountain remained clear all day. There was a steady procession of tourists on trail back to Sunrise, but the spectacular little lakes of Glacier Basin and the abundant wildflowers made the way far from unpleasant. With lots of time left in the day we hiked the Natches Loop trail as well. There was quite a bit more snow on it especially on the northern leg of the loop. There is a fantastic photo opportunity at the apex of the trail unfortunately it was late in the day and the sun, directly above the mountain, prevented us from capturing it. The trail was very nice and had some different flowers too, most notable bear grass and lots of lilies, but couldn’t live up to Burroughs Mountain. A perfect day of hiking, great views, lots of sun, lots of flowers, no bugs (didn’t even use bug spray), some days you get it all. Happy Hiking David & Karen Pictures will soon be posted on http://groups.msn.com/davidkarenshikingpage

The trail looked so much better than two weeks ago. Now you can enjoy the Spring in the mountains along with the wild flowers. Not too many hikers yet, but you will be passing by some groups. Best to start the hike from the east side of the mountain (when you have your back towards the Tipsoo Lake parking lot, that's the left side). This way you will see the stunning views on your way down, instead of having to turn on your way up. There is some snow in the middle of the loop, but it is quite managable. Almost no bugs, except for an occasional mosquito or two. If you are sensitive to the sun, don't forget the sunscreen. The sun is quite strong on this high up. Over all, great trail, very quick and easy. You will be very surprised that you can see such spectacular views without doing too much work :). And you will most likely be sad it's over. Enjoy.

Two Days Near Chinook Pass ------------------------------------------------ My son Richard and I arrived at Chinook pass summit about noon on Wed. (9-5-01) . We were headed south on the Pacific Crest Trail to camp at Dewey Lakes. This was an easy pleasant backpack trip, except for the weather. Noon Wed. : drizzle, 20 MPH wind, 39 degrees, 2pm Wed. : snow showers, 10 MPH wind, 37 degrees, 7am Thur. : fog, 5 MPH wind, 33 degrees, visibility 100 yards, 11am Thur. : fog, 25 MPH wind, 40 degrees, visibility 50 yards, 1 pm Thur. : sunny, 10 MPH wind, 58 degrees [near Sheep lake]. We used all of our extra clothing to stay warm day & night. This was planned as a summer (') trip, oh well no bugs and no sunburn. We were too late for flowers, except Scottish Bluebells and Gentian, but found acres of huckleberries all along the trail and in the lake basin. There are many campsites around the 2 Dewey lakes. We picked one with a good view at the north end of the larger lake. It was too cold and foggy to have fun a 2nd day at Dewey lake and a pair of PCT thru hikers told us that it was just as cold and foggy 5 miles south near Cougar lake (our planned day hike for thursday) so we packed up and hiked out the other side of Naches peak back to the pass for another cold lunch. But our afternoon juant to Sheep Lake [PCT north of the pass] was rewarded with blinding sunshine after about 1/2 mile ! Off with the layers. 30 degree effective wind chill difference in 15 minutes. The fog and clouds pouring over Chinook pass from the west dissipated into east side blue skies and warmth. During the night I had to get up and was shocked by bright moonshine on the lake and only scattered clouds. Incredibly beautiful. The moons rays coming between the trees made white streaks like snow patches on the meadows. If I had brought my camera tripod I would have hauled it out and shot a roll of film. So pretty and so unexpected. Fog again in the morning. This is an outstanding route for admiring alpine lakes, Big Dewey and small Dewey, Tipso and little Tipso, an unnamed lakelet on the east side of Naches peak and finally Sheep lake. To quote Judd & Nelson in Pacific Northwest Hiking ""On a clear day a drive over Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier is one of the most stunning mountain drives in the U.S."" And about the PCT Naches peak loop they say ""Wildflowers and alpine views all along the loop are sublime"". They give it 10, their highest rating for beauty. Total mileage: 12 in 2 days. Planned 20 in 3 days. Robert Michelson 9/5 & 9/6/01

After a summer of recovering from foot surgery it was time to test things out. A good place to start seemed to be ""The Loop"" because of the low elevation gain yet a fair distance. The trail was in good shape and mostly dry. The flower show is just about over and many are starting to do their ""seed thing"". You can also see the beginning of the turn to fall colors. I did miss seeing the full show but will appreciate it that much more next summer. They seem to be wrapping up the road work for the year and it sure is a big improvement. They did have the Tipsoo Lake parking lot closed for repaving. Also, if you use the Green River Bridge on Hy.169 be sure to check. They are still scheduling closures. The foot was great and I look forward to some great fall hikes then some snow trips. It's great to be back.