Before visiting Seattle, I thought people were a little intense with how much they love this mountain. But, I can confirm it's justified. I lucked out with another beautiful, sunny day. The mountain really can hide behind clouds that come out of no where at a moment's notice, though. There are two main sides to the park, Sunrise and Paradise. They are about an hour and a half drive apart, so best to do some research and decide which you'd rather visit, as both in a day would be challenging. I chose the Paradise side, which is the more popular side, especially for wildflowers during the summer. Even on a Thursday, I got there before 8am, the main lot was almost nearly full. So get there as early as you can!
Skyline Trail
According to AllTrails, this is about a 6 mile loop with 1800ft of elevation gain. There are a ton of other trails off of it, so I ended up at about 8 miles with the different routes I took, with about 5 hours worth of meandering. I started in a counter-clockwise direction from the very large main parking lot. The valley with the flowers and constant views of the mountain were absolutely stunning. There were also some deer and marmots, which are always fun to see. The first stop was Myrtle Falls, which has a pretty iconic view of Rainier behind it. There was a lot of wandering on the loop, appreciating the views of the more distant mountains along the way. I took a detour up Paradise Glacier Trail, which added a mile or so each way. It went out to some snow covered glacier ponds. I heard there were caves out there, but didn't cross enough snow to find them. I was by myself and didn't feel super comfortable going that far off the grid.
The ascent up toward Rainier was crowded and there were stairs and rock scrambles that ascended rather quickly. The view up that close to the mountain were amazing, and it gave a whole new appreciation for how massive it is. This is also the start to the hike up to the basecamp, Camp Muir, that has a very steep ascent at 3000ft in 2.5 miles. I saved that for another day, but have it added to the wish list. There were lots of chipmunks at the top, one of which sat in my lap and expected to be fed (I did not). And it was so much colder out there, with heavy cloud cover that hadn't been present earlier in the day.
I took a couple of different parts of the loop on the way down to expend the hike a bit. The first was Dead Horse Creek Trail, which had a really nice overlook of what I assume is Dead Horse Creek. It took me down through huge alpines and more wild flowers. I met up with the Avalanche Lily Trail to finish out the loop. There were fewer people on these parts of the trail, which I always appreciate.
Pinnacle Peak Trail
This hike was an example of me having no idea what I was getting myself into. The AllTrails reviews said the rocks were difficult and scary. I didn't realize they were referring to a nearly vertical climb up multiple rock walls. I'm telling you that up front, so when you walk over rocks on the trail, you don't have the same thought I did, which was "Yeah, those are rocks, they aren't that bad." Anyway, this is a 2.9 mile hike that I did probably 2.8 miles of, and gains 1600ft elevation. It took me a little over two hours. The trail head is across the street from Reflection Lake, which does have some parking, but not a ton. I lucked out and grabbed a spot. Reflection lake is also very pretty.
The start of this hike is a pretty steep uphill through the woods. There are some pretty clearings, but Rainier is mostly behind you. The further up you get, it clears out a bit. There is a boulder field to hike across, and there are a few switchbacks on it that point you back in Rainier's direction. Those were the rocks I thought the reviews were talking about. They were not.
2.5 miles up is the Saddle region of the hike. This point is absolutely gorgeous, as you can see Rainier on the side you hike up, then are graced with Mount Saint Helens and Mount Adam on the other side. It is very worth it to stop the hike here, because after, the trail disappears, and it's a vertical climb up loose smaller rocks that have no interest in helping you as you try to make your way up. I love rock climbing (mostly in the comfort of a gym). But, I was alone, and although others were making it okay, they looked younger than me and maybe hadn't hiked 40+ miles that week. I could have climbed up with no problem, but stressed about getting down.
I made it up high enough to see Rainier again (it looked the same as a little further down, tbh) and scrambled safely back down. I don't know what the views are from the top. It might be a life changing experience up there. But, solo hiking comes with weighing the pros and cons, and a major con for me would have been falling off the side of a mountain that day, so I noped out of that one. Maybe next time, I'll do it with a friend.
Bonus Chipmunk Picture- Don't feed the wildlife, even if they ask.
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