This was a 7.3 mile loop from Sunrise down to Shadow Lake, up the Rim Trail to 1st Burroughs, out to 2nd Burroughs and back to 1st, then down to Frozen Lake, and back to Sunrise via Sourdough Ridge. Weather started out hazy-clear, warm, with a cloud cap developing over the summit. Clouds started moving in from the SW during the afternoon. Trails are in good condition, dusty and dry. Bees, chipmunks and ground squirrels are busy and there are a few flies. Sunning marmots. A herd of mountain goats on the meadows between Burroughs and Fremont. Red tailed hawks soaring. My wife stayed at Shadow Lake for an hour and counted 13 juvenile salamanders in the water. Wildflowers are in seed-spreading mode and meadows are dry. It is feeling like fall. The day lodge is already closed and shuttered for winter. A beautiful Cascade fox with silver-tipped black coat trotted by the trail just above the visitors center. Parking lot was full or nearly so at 8 am. Lots of hikers on Sourdough and Burroughs, and visible on Fremont trail but not feeling crowded.

Early morning start this day up to Burroughs 2 via Sourdough.  The fog blanketed the valley on the way up, but the sky cleared as I reached the Sunrise view point, and I could see Mt. Adams in the distance.  Saw one mountain goat just below the ridge on my left before Frozen lake.  Opted not to go on to the third Burroughs this time and enjoyed coffee on the stone bench at the top of 2nd with incredible 360 views instead.  Headed back via the Sunrise rim trail departing to the right from first.  Enjoyed the views of the Emmons glacier, its turquoise runoff lake below, and of Sunrise from a new perspective (to me) from there.  Still wildflowers in the meadows heading back to the parking lot past Shadow Lake.  

After breezing through the entrance gate (it was a Tuesday), we started the hike around 12:30 PM from the Sunrise parking lot. We took the Sunrise Rim Trail up to the First Burroughs and found it pretty foggy but there was a sliver of landscape below the clouds that we could see. Heading up to the Second Burroughs, we saw the beautiful valley below Rainier, the bottom half of the Emmons Moraine Glacier, and the White River. There were some large rocks to have lunch on and a very friendly chipmunk zooming around who walked right up to our boots begging for crumbs. The fog continued to roll in and it got so cold I was wishing I brought gloves as my hands were freezing. We luckily had windbreakers and fleeces to put on as the forecast  said 56-60 degrees and partly cloudy. We got some respite as we descended a bit into a small valley on our way to the Third Burroughs. There is a fork in the trail, take the right trail - the one that you can see goes directly up the mountain. We accidentally took the left trail due to unclear signage and had to back track. 

The fog quickly got very heavy as we ascended up the Third Burroughs and due to it, there was very little visibility beyond maybe 2 meters in front of us. During a brief fog clearing moment, we spotted a massive marmot staring us down from a ridge line, but otherwise no wildlife and no goats. The Third Burroughs trail felt a bit like the moon. There is still some snow patches up at the top but nowhere near the trail. We couldn't see any views off of Third Burroughs as the thick fog stayed (seemingly all day). We saw only 2 other hikers on this part of the trail.

If you have your heart set on the views, I'd steer clear of this hike on an overcast day or a day after some rain blows in.

After we hiked back to the First Burroughs, we took the North Burroughs Mountain Trail (not the way we came), and continued onto the Sourdough Ridge Trail to the parking lot.

Right before the lot, we found an unopened soda can hidden beneath a tree, completely empty, with teeth marks on it. I guess an animal found it and bit into it and the liquid leaked out a small puncture hole. We packed that out and hit the very nice and large bathroom before heading out for the day.

Our GPS did come in handy during the fog in order to stay on trail as there were a few dead end trails sprouting from the main trail at the top of Third Burroughs. Our GPS logged 10.5 miles and 3,180 ft ascent gain over the course of the trail. I would call this trail moderate/hard, but definitely leaning hard during the Third Burroughs and trip back to Second Burroughs stretch. We also got fairly sunburned even though we were almost entirely in fog - a good reminder to reapply and to wear good sunglasses!!

It was a clear day and a nice walk up to Skyscraper.  One person was coming down as I arrived near the top and I was up there for almost an hour alone before I made my way down, then encountering a small group of youth beginning their trip up.  There was a manageable small patch of snow on the pass, but it had good boot tracks to follow for an easy climb over it.  Wonderful 360 views out to the North Cascades, Mt. Fremont, down into Berkeley Park, the wonderland and Burroughs trails below and, of course, Mt. Rainier.  It was a great day.  Whenever I am up there I wish there were a connecting trail from the Skyscraper pass over to the 3rd Burroughs and Glacier Basin intersection as another way to make a Burroughs loop.  Anyone else?  I'm sure there is a good reason there isn't but we can always hope. :) (I'd also be happy to volunteer to help if the WTA ever had that in mind).

I went up to Dege Peak for sunrise and solitude.  Total success.

WR to Sunrise is a piece of cake.  The trail is 99.9% snow free.  The waterfall was barely flowing and was a simple rock hop.

The short little jaunt from the WT through the Sunrise parking lot (Sunrise Rim trail) up to Sourdough Ridge is snow free.

Sourdough Ridge is another story.  The trail is still 50% covered in snow and starts within ¼ mile of turning east from the main Sunrise trail.

This morning it was compacted, intermittent and icy.  Without a boot path, it did make it a tricky traverse this morning.  Luckily there is a goat trail on top of the snow that follows the trail.  I utilized the goat path today.  I was putting on and taking off my microspikes frequently.  I found them useful every time I hit a high snow pack that I had to climb up and then off of.  See pic below.

If the snow softens during the day, the trail would be much easier.

Palisades Lakes looks fairly snow free.  At least up to Clover Lake.

I watched three goats hanging around the north side of Antler Peak.  

It looks like it might be a pasqueflower super bloom this year.  Unfortunately, anything that had flowered before this most recent cool down looks frost damaged.  It will be interesting to see if the majority of pasqueflower continues into seedheads this year.

Only saw one person heading up when I was almost back to my car.