Late summer mountain hiking

Mt. Fremont Lookout

It's been that kind of summer in the Northwest Corner.  While the rest of the nation sweltered from Global Warming, we've been chilly.  Two weeks ago, I finally did my annual climb of Mt. Si, a climb I usually do in May. 

Today, I went prowling in Mt. Rainier National Park.  It had to be one of the few really nice days we've had for hiking -- not cold and/or wet, but also not sweltering in the 90's as it was for a couple of days a week ago.  In Seattle, the forecast was for 77 degrees, and it was of course cooler at altitude.

Sunset Lodge and parking

Rather than hike in the Paradise area, as I usually do when I visit Rainier, I drove around to the northeast corner of the park and explored the trails around Sunrise Lodge.  Despite a lot of hikers, the traffic and parking were far more manageable than they are on a similar weekend at Paradise.  I arrived a little after 10 a.m., found a parking spot close to the lodge, and relaxed over a roll and coffee at the lodge's small snack bar.

Sunset Lodge is situated at an altitude of 6,400 feet -- a thousand feet higher than its cousin at Paradise.  The lodge is the highest point reachable in the park by automobile.  My goal, this year, wasn't to undertake a rigorous climb, as I did last year trudging up to Camp Muir, but simply to wander the trails, enjoy the views and wildflowers, and be glad that I lived in the Northwest.  All goals were duly accomplished. 

Frozen Lake, looking south

My planned destination was a fire lookout at Mt. Fremont, a climb to only 7,181 feet -- but because the trail goes up and down, the gross elevation gain is about 1,200 feet.  The round trip was about 5.5 miles. 

The trail is heavily traveled as far as Frozen Lake, about 1.5 miles from the lodge.  At that point, it intersects the Wonderland Trail in a five-direction intersection, so the crowds get divided among various destinations.  Also, many walkers simply make Frozen Lake their destination -- which judging from their shoes, clothes and general physical condition appeared to be a good idea.  (I hate to sound snarky -- I'm actually happy when anybody, in any physical condition, gets out of his or her car and walks any distance at all.  And Frozen Lake does provide beautiful views in itself.)

Trail to lookout (viewable in upper left)

I took the northbound trail to Mt. Fremont.  The gradient was gentle for the most part, and the hike not at all tiring.  The trail follows a ridge -- generally uphill with some areas of ups and downs.  The majority of the trail consists of easily walkable packed earth, but there is a significant portion that works its way through rock slides -- a section that requires some attention to what you're doing with your feet.  The rocks you're dancing over look like granite, but must be, in fact, broken shale.  My footsteps rang out like those of a person walking over millions of broken coke bottles at some recycling dump.

Emmons Glacier,
viewed from Second Burroughs Mountain

I had lunch at the lookout -- unmanned, but still maintained and occasionally used -- along with a number of other hikers with similarly unimaginative ideas.  Good views of Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak to the north, despite slightly hazy horizons.  The Olympics were merely a blue shadow on the western horizon, although The Brothers was discernible from the sun's shining off patches of white snow.  Someone loudly claimed he saw the Columbia Center (76 stories) in Seattle; then again, someone else probably thought he saw a flying saucer overhead but had the good sense to keep quiet about it.

It was still only about 1:00 or 1:30 when I got back to Frozen Lake, so I decided to try out another trail from the five-point intersection.  I took the Burroughs Mountain trail to the southwest.  The trail climbs to a plateau called First Burroughs Mountain, and then dips slightly before continuing upward to a much more impressive view at Second Burroughs Mountain (7,400 ft.).  Total round trip distance from Frozen Lake is only 2.6 miles.  From Second Burroughs, you feel you can reach out and scoop a snowball off the side of Rainier, and you have an excellent view of the Emmons Glacier tumbling down the east side of the mountain. 

Both trails are easy, and there were lots of children climbing along with their parents.  (And some fathers carrying pre-schoolers, which strikes me as far beyond the normal call of paternal duty.)  Enjoyable day, not all that tiring, but still a nice workout.  Total walking distance for the day: 8.1 miles.