With a forecast for sunny skies and near 80F in the lowlands, I thought it would be a perfect weekend to get out and enjoy an overnight hike near Mount Rainier. My plan was to climb up to the Shriner Peak lookout and spend the night, capturing both the sunset and sunrise from directly east of Rainier. Alas, the two camp spots were already taken when I arrived at the ranger station about 8:45 am Saturday morning. For that matter, any campsite that had a view of Rainier was already full. Since I was already packed for an overnight hike, I didn't want to head up Shriner Peak just for the day. So, I had to choose from the camp sites which were still open. I finally decided on Fire Creek Camp, a destination about eight miles from Sunrise, on a trail which would take me through Berkeley Park and Grand Park. I hadn't been to either before, and had always wanted to go, so that was that! Unfortunately, it took 45 minutes to reach that decision point, as there were two large groups of climbers registering to make summit attempts, and several other groups of backpackers ahead of me. Finally, I was off to Sunrise with permit in hand!



You can see here, as happens quite frequently, that Sunrise point was higher than the clouds blanketing the valleys to the east. After putting on sunscreen and sunglasses, I drank about a half quart of water, threw on my nearly 30 pound pack, and hit the trail! By now it was already 10:30, and most of the chill in the air had long departed, even at 6400 feet. The sun was out and it felt great! I quickly passed a family of four who had been in my same predicament at the ranger station, and also chosen Fire Creek Camp. I nearly tripped over a marmot standing on a tree right at the edge of the trail. It didn't move, and was apparently waiting for a handout from another hiker who had been ahead of me, which was eventually provided. The next hiker came even closer to stepping on the poor rodent, but it held it's ground. Soon enough, I was at Frozen Lake, and shortly thereafter, reached the junction of the Northern Loop Trail and Wonderland Trail.



My first thought upon seeing the trail leading down into Berkeley Park was 'I'm going to have to come UP that tomorrow??'. Soon enough, I was distracted by the amazing abundance and colors of the wildflowers. There were a fair amount of people on the trail all the way to Berkeley Park camp, where they all seemed to vanish. I didn't see anyone again until I reached Grand Park proper. Here you can make out the long hill descending into Berkley park, from a vantage point about a mile and a half north. There was also a nice stairway to heaven, lined with bear grass and tiger lilies. Ok, so it was only going to Grand Park... close enough! I strolled into the immense meadows just three hours after leaving Sunrise, about six miles in.



I was greeted at the Lake Eleanor trail junction by a park rangerette, who wanted to check my camping permit. I obliged, then headed further in to Grand Park so I could capture the classic view of Rainier rising above it. I found a great little spot in a giant patch of lupines, and sat down for a snack and some photos. The Mount Fremont lookout was very prominent from here, albeit looking quite small and far away! I only went about 1/3 mile in from the junction, but someday it would be nice to hike the entire length of Grand Park. After enjoying the view and sun for a while, I was off to Fire Creek camp. Just before starting a long downhill stretch, the trail passes through a spectacular view point. With a nearly 270 degree panorama, including Mt. Fremont, Berkeley Park, the west fork of the White River, Windy Gap, and the Natural Bridge, pictures simply don't compare. It's like Sunrise, with the valley floor 3000 feet below where you stand, except without the roads and crowds of other people. If you look at the third picture in the previous set, just starting the descent in to Berkeley Park, you can quite plainly see this vantage point. Can you guess which it is?



My 'short' 1.6 mile hike down to Fire Creek camp turned into 2.1 miles, down a series of switchbacks that seemed to never end! Sure, an extra half mile doesn't sound like much, going downhill. But with 2900 feet elevation loss in one day, carrying my heavy pack, my feet were not happy! Being the first camper to arrive gave me the liberty to choose the nicest site. I picked one almost on top of Fire Creek, which isn't exactly raging, but nevertheless refreshing on an otherwise completely dry mountainside. It didn't take me long to set up my new tent/bivy, and soon after, I got out the kitchen and was having a hot meal. Another group of campers came in roughly a half hour after me, but the family I passed earlier didn't roll in until almost two hours later. The camp sites are situated such that you don't really see your neighbors, and the camp itself is nothing too remarkable, being in the middle of the woods. There's no view to speak of for over a mile in either direction on the trail, so I wasn't about to get up and watch the sunset or sunrise this time! After a brief rest in the tent, I cooked the main course, beef stroganoff, which was good but not exceptional. I hit the sack extremely early, with plans to get out of camp around sunrise, but that didn't materialize. Despite the bed being mostly comfortable, I couldn't stay asleep for more than an hour at a time it seemed. I left camp around 8:00, just as the other folks were getting up.



Ah, finally I reached the last switchback on the 1000 foot climb out from Fire Creek! The view at 9:00 in the morning was even more breathtaking than it was the afternoon before. Due to the angle of the sun, the Natural Bridge magically appeared, whereas the day before, it was nowhere to be seen. I was even able to make out the trail coming down from Windy Gap, which you can barely see in the picture. It certainly helped to have the binoculars! The force of the wind here was incredible, I estimate at least 40 mph gusts, hang on to your hat! The wind continued throughout most of the day, and was even stronger bewteen the Mystic Lake junction and Frozen Lake.



I arrived at Grand Park around 9:30, not too bad considering I had just climbed 1000 feet, and spent about 25 minutes taking photos and looking through the binoculars. I found another spot in the lupine fields and set up the stove to brew my second cup of hot chocolate that morning. While waiting for it to cool, I was able to pick out a rope team of about a dozen climbers descending the Emmons Glacier back to Camp Schurman. Man were they tiny! I had to strain to see them even at 10X magnification. I had a few triscuits and oreos and relaxed for over an hour before hitting the trail back to Berkeley Park.



I took even more time to stop and appreciate the wildflowers in Berkeley Park on the way out, mostly because I was always going uphill! I had to stop at Berkeley camp to put on some bug repellant, as the mosquitos were quite persistant even as I walking. I met one hiker who said he just came up from the White River campground, nearly 3500 feet below. He had only a fanny pack on, and said he normally hikes 20 miles in one day! While I was finishing off the last of my Oreos at the next junction, I saw a man in full marathon attire, running down the trail towards Mystic Lake! He had no pack of any kind that I could see. I guess he moves so fast that he doesn't need water. The wind really picked up just before reaching Frozen Lake, and fortunately, it was blowing towards the lake, helping me get up the last major hill!



Frozen Lake was the end of sparsely populated trails. A couple dozen people were hanging out at the trail junction there, including three young men with snowboards who were eyeing a bank of snow on the side of Burroughs Mountain. Between Frozen Lake and Sunrise, a distance of only 1.5 miles, I must have seen over 200 people on the trail. My feet and legs were both sore coming into the parking lot, feet from the final downhill, and legs from the 2900 feet of uphill that day! I cleaned up a little, changed into my tennis shoes, and had a grilled chicken sandwich and fries from the cafeteria. The parking lot was overflowing to a greater extent than I'd ever seen before. Clouds surrounded Sunrise proper, but it was still nice and sunny, while Sunrise Point was completely inside the clouds. Nice view, eh?

I was somewhat surprised to see it raining from Greenwater west, on the drive home. Traffic was insane, bumper to bumper on highway 410 all the way back to Puyallup. It's a good thing I had taken Monday off work, because my back and legs were more sore than they have been in years, maybe ever. Then again, I can't remember if I've ever done a hike that long, anyone else remember one? I know that I certainly never did one that long with a 28+ pound pack! Day two of recovery has shown a huge improvement though, and I expect to be back to full strength by the coming weekend, just in time for another hike!