July 03, 2021

Today is the day to make it to the Sunrise area of Mt. Rainier National Park. It’s time to get even closer to this awesome volcano! It’s the highest point you can reach in the park by car at 6,400 ft.

Again, I arrive early to beat the traffic lines at the Nisqually entrance, but it’s a holiday weekend, so I expected more traffic than usual. The annual pass line is faster, and the pass comes in handy later as there’s more paid checkpoints inside the park.

So up I drive and stop at Reflection Lake (along with many others) to see the sunlight on the water and Mt. Rainier sitting squat behind it.

More views continuing up and I can see the roads far down below me:

There’s smaller trails on the way up but I want to make it to Sunrise, so I go against stopping here at this viewpoint and continue on.

About 2 hours later, I make it to Sunrise area, and just in time, because the parking area is almost full. I find a spot and wait to go in the building to get a map of where I can go for the day.

I decide to do the trail that takes you to Frozen Lake, the main source of drinking water for the area I later learned. You start towards the Sourdough Ridge Trail and continue until it reaches the lake. The Rangers said you could see Mountain Goats up in the rocks above you if you looked carefully!

By now it’s early afternoon and getting very hot. I was alternating between hot and chilly in the shadows, so I wore a thin long sleeve with hiking pants and of course my trail runners, because there’s still a lot of snow up here that’s packed in some places and slush in others. I grab my hiking poles too.

So begins the nearly 3 mile hike. As you walk, it gets steeper and then plateaus into valleys, where you can see other mountains in the distance.

As you get closer to the lake, Mt. Rainier looms closer in the distance, and lots of people are taking pictures on the side of the trail.

But the trail suddenly gets much steeper and narrower, and it’s packed with snow and ice. The edge is right by your feet, with a sparkling snow drop many feet below. If I hadn’t had the poles, I could totally picture myself tumbling down the embankment, stuck down below. Some people turned back and reversed instead of continuing on. But I wanted to see the lake.

It was really warm now, but I wasn’t scared. For some reason, I thought of my grandmother, who was now watching me above and saying that I could do this with no problems. And so I hugged the edge of the snow on the trail, and crossed to the other side.

A few deep breaths and I’m good! I stop to see a chipmunk (?) who is observing me back while having a snack, and he lets me watch and photograph him:

You round a corner bend and the lake is there! Water so cold you can feel it in the wind, and ice surrounds it, filling the lake as it melts. Ice floes glide smoothly across at a snail’s pace, and Mt. Rainier is sitting behind you to your left, Mt. Fremont is to your right.

There’s a part of the trail that loops around to continue back, but I don’t want to catch it too late in the evening, so I go back the way I came. I get to stop and see more flowers here too.

I’m disappointed I didn’t see any goats, but I decide to continue on the part of the Sourdough Trail that goes behind the Sunrise visitor center store and enjoy the views from up there. I stop to snack and watch people move around like dots below.

At the top is a sign saying Dege Peak is another 14 miles.

I come back down and it’s time to go back to the inn. But on the way down, I made up for not seeing a goat because I saw my very first wild bear!!

I’m amazed he (or she?) is just walking in the street at a leisurely pace. I’m inside my car literally screaming in delight that a bear is right in front of me, saying “holy crap” about 50 times.

I wait to see if it’ll pass and I drive by it slowly, and we exchange a stare as I go right by it, about 3 feet away from my car door.

Now I’m all hyped up and pumped and that’s great, because now it’s time to make the 2 hour drive back to the inn. I get some awesome views on the way down:

And back to the Basecamp Grill where there’s live music and not much seating. I order a broccoli and cheese soup that smelled absolutely amazing after a long day of hiking and settle on a tree stump near the music stage. I down all its gooey cheesiness and listen as the music gives way to the stars before cleaning my shoes and settling in for the night.