Today we hiked out and back on Sourdough Ridge trail from Sunrise point parking area to the cutoff to Sunrise with a dogleg up to Dege Peak.  It was overcast skies and the cloud level lowered as we drove up through the White River Entrance Station.  Maintenance work was in progress to shore up the rock retaining wall around the parking area and along the Sunrise Park Rd on the hairpin turn.  Construction vehicles didn’t hamper parking in the lot.  It was 50 degrees so we all geared up with long sleeves, vests and gloves as we head up the trail just before 10:00.  In short time the sun kept pooping out and we all shed layers.  The entire trail was dry and dusty with loose rocks and roots on some of the steeper uphill sections.  Clearing skies over the Cascades and made for some great territorial view skies.  About 1/2 mile from the parking area there was a strong animal scent along the trail and there was a large area of matted down foliage adjacent to the trail.  A meadow rover further up the trail said there were a few reports of elk in the area. Wildflowers were mostly fading but we saw a bright spots of lupine, paint brush, aster, alpine goldenrod, harebells and lousewort.  Sweeping hillsides were covered with faded asters, arnica, pearly everlasting and anemone pasque flower heads, beautiful in their own right.  There were ripe blueberries and huckleberries throughout. I haven’t hiked on this section of Sourdough Ridge trail in years and was surprised by the continuous trail traffic the entire time we were out on the trail. When we backtracked and headed up Dege Peak trail traffic was thick.  There were over 30 hikers on the summit and it felt crowded.  Mt Rainier would appear out of the cloud shroud and just as quickly disappear.  Continuous territorial views were better NW towards Forest Lake and Grand Park and to Norse Peak and the Crystal Ski area.  South views did not extend past Tamanos Mtn and Govenor’s Ridge peaks.  We lucked out and spotted 2 mountain goats grazing below on the NE flanks of Dege Peak.  A few chipmunks and juncos rounded out our wildlife sightings.  Several more hikers were heading out when we walked back to our vehicles just after 2:00.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.

A beautiful day. upper Crystal Lake shimmered in the sun. do not miss Sourdough Gap. views are magnificent. don't be out off by what looks like a steep trek to the Gap. it's worth every minute of it. views of Rainier, Adams & Mt St. Helens

Happy #Hikeathon! Wow, I've never seen so many people at Sunrise Point at 6:30am on a Sunday! I came up on a Friday at 6:30am a few weeks ago and it was deserted compared to today! Our group of Mountaineers met at Sunrise Point to do a car shuttle  hike from there to Dege Peak, then along Sourdough Ridge to Frozen Lake, and back to the lodge. I could hardly pull into Sunrise Point because people were parked in front of the entrances. Myself and another hiker took my car up to the main parking area, where the entire paved lot was already full. I ended up parking in one of the last spots in the dirt overflow parking area. I felt bad for the people with 7am reservations - I suspect that the system is forcing people into coming early. 

Anyway, the hike! We completed a 6.3mi trek with 1100ft of elevation gain according to my Gaia tracker. We hiked up to Dege Peak from Sunrise Point, then took Soughdough Ridge to Frozen Lake. Our initial plan was to loop around using the service road, but we found a sign saying it was closed and would be another 2.7mi to the parking lot via Shadow Lake. So, we opted to turn around and backtrack. What a beautiful trail! It was much less busy from Dege Peak to the junction with the trail from the parking lot and we got some amazing views of Mt. Adams, Goat Rocks, Glacier Peak, and (we think) Mt. Baker. The only annoying part was dealing with the swarm of flies up at the summit of Dege Peak. Be sure to wear your bug spray if you go up there! They weren't really a problem otherwise. Unfortunately we didn't see much wildlife, just a chipmunk and we heard some marmots whistling. All in all it was a great day on Mt. Rainier!

If anyone feels inclined, you can support my Hike-a-Thon here: https://give.wta.org/fundraiser/6493127

Seven of us enjoyed a perfect thru hike in Mt. Rainier National Park. My friend created a great itinerary and scored the permit for a three day/two night backpacking trip. We were lucky to have friends who offered to drive us to the Lake Eleanor trailhead and had arranged for one car to be left at Sunrise an another person picking us up on our out day.

This was my first time visiting Lake Eleanor and I was delighted by the great forest walk without much gain as we made our way with our backpacks and hiked less than a mile! We had the group site which is right next to the trail - not ideal but offered nice views of the Lake Eleanor. The lake water was perfect for a dip! Some other campers even had floaties. In the evening, I and another camper walked up the trail about 20 minutes to enjoy the sun setting on Mt. Tahoma. This meadow has a great view!

The next day we traveled through Grand Park and Wow! I've heard of this section and it truly did not disappoint! The views of Mt. Tahoma are amazing and the expansive vistas as you wander through a beautiful grassland setting. Traveling on part of the Northern Loop was a first for me as well as we made our way to Berkeley Park. The wildflowers were still stunning and much appreciated. We camped at the group site in Berkeley Park and enjoyed Lodi Creek as a source of great water and a place to relax after a great day of backpacking.

On our last day, we began early to avoid the heat in the most exposed section of this backpacking journey. It was wonderful to experience the early morning light and we saw a heard of over 25 mountain goats once we joined the Wonderland Trail from Berkeley Park. We finished our through hike coming into Sunrise via the Sourdough Ridge trail past Frozen Lake.

We had awesome weather and a full moon so not too great for star gazing or the persiod meteor shower but we did get to enjoy some beautiful sunsets and some stars.

If you are looking a great thru backpack experience, I highly recommend this itinerary. The elevation gain is very doable and you are visiting some less traveled sections of the Park until you arrive on the Wonderland Trail near Sunrise.

Entered the Sunrise checkpoint at 6:50am (note that the entry is about a 30 min away from the actual Sunrise visitor center, which makes a difference when figuring out when you will enter the park). Entry is technically free today, celebrating the Great American Outdoors Act, but the ranger happily checked my America the Beautiful pass and timed entry pass (which I got just in case I was past the 7am deadline). I arrived at the lot around 7:20am and it was about half full. There were clouds in the lowlands, but clear at Sunrise! 

I hiked the Sunrise Rim trail to Burroughs - highly recommend this route, as the mountain is in your view the whole way up, and you can make a loop back to the visitors center. I don't have much to add to other reports. The flowers were popping along sunrise rim trail and I only saw a few people. Pack layers - it was in the low 40s when I started and breezy on the trail, windiest at 2nd Burroughs, but amazingly calm at 3rd Burroughs. I loved seeing the clouds dance around the mountain and felt lucky it was a cooler day, as this is a very exposed hike. Bring all your water, there is none along the way. Bugs were non existent except for some wasps at the very top. I also saw the largest group of mountain goats ever between the 2nd and 3rd Burroughs - maybe 20! 

On the way down I took the trail to frozen lake intersection and then up to Fremont lookout, this was the most crowded part of the hike and the chipmunks are fierce at the top - watch out for your bag and snacks! The clouds obscured the mountain, but would clear enough to see the mountain! I then took the Sourdough ridge trail back to the parking lot, which was completely full.