Absolutely spectacular, breathtaking views of Mt. Rainier yesterday (Sunday, 08/22/1999) due to cloudless skies. Excellent views of Berkeley Park, Grand Park and distant mountains (e.g., Mt. Baker). Trail is in excellent shape and 100% snow-free, although neighboring trails (e.g., Mt. Burroughs) still have some snow and there are still snow fields around Frozen Lake. Lots of purple lupine in the meadows (very fragrant when the wind blows the right direction), the occasional red paintbrush, heather, numerous other flowers. Mosquitoes and biting flies still bad in places, off and on, but strong breezes kept them mostly at bay. Chipmunks and ground squirrels at the lookout tower were absolutely shameless beggars. Bear activity visible near the stream in the valley below the trail (meadow near the trail to Berkeley Park). Watch for families of marmots living in the stone rubble along the trailside; they posed for extensive photo shoots. Reminder: don't feed the wildlife, first, because it's bad for them especially this year because of the late snowmelt (they still need to be able to get food the old-fashioned way), and second, because there's a $50 fine for doing so that not everyone knows about. Bring plenty of water (2 liters is reasonable): the heat, the dryness and the altitude can dehydrate you faster than you realize on a sunny day on the exposed rock slopes.

The trail is in great shape. I was up here about 3 weeks ago and the trail had snow in places. I did see 13 mountain goats though. Today, 8/17 was clear and sunny, but no goats and the flowers have nearly seen the end. The meadows are bright green and lush compared to the stark whiteness of the snow for the last few weeks. Many many chipmunks, of all sizes, trying to steal your lunch. The flies, all sizes and shape, were ravenous and rather than have to send out for a blood transfusion we chose not to stay on top as long as we would have liked. This trip has spectular scenery in every direction and is hard to beat on a nice day. 7 miles round trip, lots of marmots, a bull elk in the velvet. Sure a lot of people in the parking lot and around the lodge for a weekday. Does anyone work anymore'

A beautiful sunny saturday with a lot of people. Some snow near Frozen Lake. No snow rest of the way to the lookout. Views are great.

I had a glorious hike to Fremont LO today. Arrived at Sunrise at 11am on a sunny Sunday in July to find over half the parking lot empty. Holy Cow!! Most of the people I met seemed to be from out of state or even foreign countries judging by the half dozen languages I overheard. Evidentally, locals are letting the clouds intimidate them. The clouds ended a few miles out of Enumclaw and the sun was shining brightly as I headed up the partially snow-covered trail. There is some snow on the way to Frozen Lake, but the trail from there to the LO is dry. Most hikers were heading there as the other options (Burroughs, Skyscraper, and maybe Berkeley Park) still need an ice ax. Even so, the top was not very crowded for a weekend (another Holy Cow). However, the squirrels have become so tamed that I can't stretch out for a lunch snooze without them crawling on me so I headed down into the basin towards Skyscraper. The view of Rainier is not as good, but there was nobody around and no critters crawling on me. A nice nap and then back to the car.

Well, it is the time of year again when I try to get out to Sunrise for an after-work hike or two. Last year it was Burroughs mountain, this year we opted for Mt. Fremont. Follow the trail from Sunrise to Sourdough Ridge, taking the left branch at the ridge and follow it to Frozen Lake. One small snow path which is navigable if you are careful - it will be gone in a matter of days. At the west end of the lake is a complicated looking junction of several trails - take the one heading north along the lake towards Mt. Fremont. The trail climbs a total of 800 feet in 2.5 miles, which makes it about perfect as a nice evening hike. We left the car at 7:00 pm and made the lookout at 8:00. Saw two elk, a deer, a herd of 20 mountain goats and numerous marmots and ground squirrels. The flowers right now are absolutely phenomenal - loads of Indian paintbrush, lupine, little yellow sunflower-like things and white phlox (I think') which glows white after the sun goes down. No bug problems hiking in or out but they swarmed us in droves when we stopped for dinner. Either bring lots of bug juice or don't stop! The sunset on Mt. Rainier's north side is absolutely soul-wrenching - it has to be seen to be believed. The mountain first turns a brilliant pink, then becomes tinged with gold along the NW ridges, and finally settles to a gentle, luminous blueish hue after the sun finally goes down. The late evening gold from the sun also lights up the meadows and diffuses as a purple-red glow within the mist that hangs in the valleys below. On the way back we scrambled scree up to the actual summit of Mt. Fremont (I can never pass up a summit), and it was worthwhile to do so. I would plead that if you choose to do so please be sure to stay on the rocks and scree and off the inviting but fragile tundra. Views from the top include a fabulous vista of Grand Park (gotta go there), Huckleberry creek (my hiking partner's nick-namesake), dozens of peaks of the Cascade range north and south (including Adams, Stuart, Glacier, Chikamin, Lemah, Baker and Shuksan), and of course, the eye-popping tear-jerking breath-taking view of the enormous bulk of the Mountain. Most impressive is the ice cliff off Liberty ridge hanging over the Willis Wall and the broken, enormous mass of the Emmons and Winthrop glaciers. We virtually had the trail to ourselves except for one very intrepid photography buff who was heading up the trail in the dark at 9:30 as we were heading out. Marmot