On Memorial Day, we took advantage of the sunnier weather on the east side of Rainier by heading into Glacier Basin. Our goal was to climb Mount Ruth but the soft slushy snow hindered our progress and we ran out of time, climbing only to about 7500 feet.

Regarding the trail to Glacier Basin, it is clear to the intersection for the Emmons Glacier Overlook then snow begins at about 1.5 miles in. Numerous trees are down but fairly easy to step over. Several of the bridges along the way are only partially melted out and potentially treacherous if you don't have experience, good boots and poles. We found microspikes to be really helpful as well. The trail is not wanded yet and the path has been established by skiers, climbers and hardy hikers. Note that they don't always go where you want to go so be sure to have good navigation skills.  Around the last 1/2 mile there is a challenging steep switchback (right) that many people miss because some travelers prefer to stay straight, but that is not the trail to Glacier Basin. As you approach the basin there is a sign for the toilet but clearly the toilet is still under a few feet of snow. The sign for Glacier Basin is currently buried as well. 

For anyone planning to cross the White River, there is currently good solid snow coverage near the start of the meadow. This will be changing quickly so use caution and your best judgment.

Bottom line is that most of this beautiful trail is still under snow and presents navigation challenges and snow related obstacles that can be dangerous for the less experienced hikers. 

We reached the trailhead at 8:15am on Saturday, sun started peaking through the clouds as we got to Sunrise.  No wait at the park entrance, and we saw a bull elk with a few cows about 1.5 miles from the entrance.  They moved away from the road up the hill as we drove by, but settled back down up there.  Summerland only had 4-5 cars parked and there were probably only 6 other cars at the White River campground.  All the bathrooms we tried were locked, but it seems like the vault toilets at loop B were open from talking with others.

We only passed a few people on the hike, both before the turn off to Emmons Moraine trail, but there was a good amount of sun, and nice fall colors all around.  We reached the end of the maintained trailhead and went another quarter mile up to sit on a rock for a break.  On our way back down we passed 25+ groups, and the parking lot was full with a few cars on the side of the road.

We also took a quick side track over to the Emmons Moraine trail where a number of people were getting better views of the mountain than the top of Glacier basin based on the light and clouds.

Overall, good views of the mountain and good weather - especially compared to the west side of the Cascades later in the day.

It's almost last call for the White River trailheads and the weather was perfect this morning so I figured I'd go get my cardio on a Glacier Basin/Burroughs/Sunrise Rim/Wonderland loop. According to the GPS this ended up being 10.6 miles and 3,260 feet of gain.

When I got to the trailhead it was surprisingly busy. I thought a bunch of people must have had the same idea I'd had, but after talking to a few it turns out at least half the people there had planned a Sunrise outing and hadn't realized that the road was closed. At 2pm as I was heading down Wonderland back to White River Campground I was still passing people heading up asking how much further it was to Mount Fremont lookout. I'm never sure how to properly answer the "Are we almost there?" questions on hikes when the party asking is most definitely not almost there.

At the end of my hike there were quite a few cars parked along the road and in the early campsites and the day lot was starting to get a few spots opening up but more people were still arriving. The toilets next to the day lot are locked for the season but there is a vault toilet available a bit of a walk back down the road towards the entrance station. Your better bet is to make a pit stop right after the main White River road entrance gate.

The loop is in great condition. There are two blowdowns, the first on Glacier Basin is trivial to step over, the second on the lower part of Sunrise Trail has a detour already trod around it. Doing the loop clockwise means getting up to the views a bit later in the day, however it makes for an easier descent as the Wonderland trail is smoother, wider, and softer than the Sunrise trail.

It was surreal having Second Burroughs all to myself for the entire time I ate lunch. Not only were there no people, the army of begging chipmunks has disappeared as well, no doubt despondent at the disappearance of their summer buffets.

Today was my second attempt to reach 3rd Burroughs via the Glacier Basin trail.

Yesterday, I turned around due to heavy wind gusts once up at the junction.

Today, it was a doe that seemed frozen in the middle of the trail about 100 feet just past the switchbacks on the connector trail.  I did try to drop down a couple of switchbacks and wait 10 minutes.  The doe was still there.  I then tried to climb a little up the scree field and waited 20 minutes.  Nope.  The doe seemed frozen in that spot.

After 30 minutes of inactivity in cold fog, I called it a day, headed down to the basin trail and left the doe alone.

The connector trail had less than an inch of powdery snow yesterday.  Today, the trail is mostly snow free.  What snow is left on this part of the trail is less than an inch and of the heavy wet kind.

The Glacier Basin trail is in great shape.  Wet.  Not muddy.  It is slippery in spots.  Water is flowing in all of the creeks.  Great to see after being dry just three weeks ago.

Mt Rainier was visible as I was hiking up the connector trail.  It was covered in low level clouds once on the Glacier Basin trail.

I only saw two people all morning.  They were heading up the Glacier Basin trail.  There were 5 more cars in the lot when I left than when I arrived.  Guessing they headed up the WT to Sunrise.

I was looking for a quick morning hike without many crowds.  An out and back along the Glacier Basin trail was perfect.

The day/climbers parking lot at the WR-CG was 80% full when I got there at 5am.  Both the front country/car campsites and the back country (Glacier Basin) sites were all full.  Other than those camping in both areas, I only saw 5 people all morning on trail.  All on my way back down to the car.

The base trail or the first 3.2 miles are as described in the WTA trail description. 

Once on the unmaintained/climbers trail, I was a little surprised how much the trail has deteriorated/changed since I was last on it in early June.  The trail that I am used to is narrow in spots with some exposure to the basin.  It looks like folks didn't want that exposure, hence created new trails around a few areas.  There is a 50 ft section that is steep and dry. I somewhat slid down on my heels while squatting. No real exposure or danger.  Just steep, hard, dry and difficult to get a footing while going down.

There was a small group of goats crossing the basin that was fun to watch.

With the exception of the Fryingpan Creek (Summerland) TH parking lot which was overflowing greatly, very few cars today at all the other TH's. Only two cars at the entrance gate at 9:15am.

With the extension down the climbers trail, my total mileage was 9 mi and 2,500ft elevation climb.