I thought I would see if I would be able to get up to Sunrise from White River before the big rain hit. 

Nope. Nada.  At least not today….or until the melt is further along.  All due to the Frozen Lake drainage area.

The first 2.0 mi from White River CG is primarily snow free.  There is some snow to cross as elevation is gained.  It is not difficult to cross or navigate.

The Frozen Lake drainage, 0.5 mi below the Sunrise Rim trail is snow free.  However, the falls were a 10-12 ft width with a very heavy flow.  That was at 4am.  Usually a low time for flow rate. Today’s rain had not started yet.  One slip in this area and a person would not survive the fall.

Taking all of that into consideration, I did not feel comfortable crossing and turned around here.  See pic.

The other item to note is the approach to the falls.   The trail has always been narrow here.  This year it seems like it has narrowed even further.  There are parts of it that are a mere 6” in width.  The widest section is maybe 12”.

Coolest part of the morning is my first marten sighting of the year!  Shortly after I had turned around from the drainage, my headlamp caught something the size of a house cat with a fluffy tail crossing the trail in front of me.  It hopped up the closet tree.  Once in the tree, I could see the cute little marten ears.  It then became the typical marten stare down. They are curious little critters!  

Sorry for the bad photos.  Rain had started at this point.  I used my phone instead of hauling out my camera which was nicely tucked in a dry bag.

Went to Silver Springs Snopark.Hwy 410 was bare and dry. Entrance and road to parking lot was plowed but a bit chunky. There is a porta potty at trailhead. As hwy 410 inside Mt Ranier park is one of my favorite roads I figured it would be a lovely snowshoe and it did not disappoint. There is a trail by the signage and porta potty that leads out to 410 which is completely snowbound but does not require expertise. I started in microspikes on a nice wide track. This wide track was nicely compacted so made for easy travel. The mile post signs are still visible and made for a nice reference for how far you go. There are several trees down and 2 had already been cut up. Someone also has removed branches to make it easier to go under some. There are several nice view points and river access at mp 59. Same for mp 60 and there is also a nice rock wall in this area covered in icicles. After mp 60 the track got skinnier and I begin to posthole so I switched to snow shoes. At times the snow was firm others I sunk in a bit.  Just prior to mp 62 I reached the Crystal Peak-Lake trailhead. After this only animal prints continued up 410. Nice to see this over used trailhead devoid of 2 legged intruders for once! Had lunch in a patch of sun then headed back down. Did see lots of elk prints and snowshoe hare.

Hiked from the White River CG to the Fremont Lookout. It is about 11.5 miles and was smoke free. We almost did not go because of the smoke, but until we left the park, no smoke but we could see it all around us. 

We were completely alone for the entire hike to the lookout with no one in sight on any of the trails or the Burroughs. We only stayed for about 15 minutes due to the fact that there were 25 mile an hour winds with sleet/snow pellets. The compensation was a magnificent rainbow. Also, Grand Park looked like it was a stones throw away. We think, next to The Mountain, Grand Park is the best feature in the park.

Met one person on the way down from the lookout and a hiker doing the loop we did last week-White River CG to The Second Burroughs, down the trail to GB Trail and back to the campground. As we approached the campground the usual suspects appeared-hikers starting late with no fixed destination and some with inadequate packs, but no flipflops. Last week we saw a couple hiking in BARE FEET. Not sure how that worked out.

We saw a couple of deer at the beginning of the hike and just below the lookout and under the end of the rainbow was a herd of goats. Sunrise hikes take on a whole different characteristic when the place is completely empty. We will be doing this hike and the Glacier Basin Loop next year, same time. 

Enjoyed a solitude sunrise up at Dege Peak this morning.

Wildfire smoke was prevalent. I could smell it as soon as I was out of my car at the White River CG parking area. The smoke did create some cool colors during sunrise. Especially for photography.

I started at the White River CG parking lot and headed up the Wonderland Trail for 2.6 miles. l took the short spur trail east to the Sunrise parking lot. From there I headed up Sourdough Ridge to Dege Peak.

In addition to the cool sunrise colors, it was a day for wildlife.

As I was getting to the meadow, just west of Antler Peak,  my headlamp highlighted a couple of  glowing eyes above me in the meadow. The eyes were moving towards me. I stopped, turned off my headlamp and let my eyes adjust to the moonlight.  With the moonlight still strong, I was able to see it was a bear lumbering down the meadow.  It had no interest in me whatsoever.  It meandered down the meadow, crossed the trail and continued on its way to the sunrise area. That was pretty cool.

I was still enjoying my night time bear sighting when I reached  the second view point east of Antler Peak.  All of a sudden a goat popped up over the ridge within 5 ft in front of me.  We were both stunned for a couple of seconds before the goat took off running, as fast as a goat could run, east along the trail.  That had my heart pounding a little.

Once on Dege Peak, I could hear a bull elk bugling to the south.  It sounded like it was coming from the Fryingpan Creek drainage area. Hard to tell.  I have never seen any elk in that area.  It was far enough away that it was enjoyable. Unlike a couple of weeks ago up on Cowlitz Divide where 3 bugling elk at the same time was ear piercing.

I took in all the unique colors of sunrise and headed back down.  I didn’t see anyone until I was on the WT about 1.5 miles from the parking lot.  Pretty cool to be all alone in this section of the park!  

Really enjoyed my conversation with Glen, another avid MRNP hiker, who gave me some great tips on new areas to explore.

The parking lot was full when I returned. All but two people I ran into, had come expecting to hike from Sunrise and were surprised to find the road closed.  I have a feeling that will be a big issue this weekend and parking will be difficult.

One of my favorite times of the year is when Sunrise Rd is closed and the crowds are almost nonexistent up in the Sunrise area.  Today was no exception.  

It was so quiet this morning, I heard a bear crashing through brush down in Berkley Park, Canadian geese flying overhead, pika’s calling in the multiple talus fields and could even hear a fox cry in the valley below Grand Park.

I started at the White River CG taking the Wonderland Trail directly to the Fremont Lookout trail.  

I was in a conga line of one up to the lookout.  It was awesome! 

I had the entire trail and lookout to myself to enjoy the sunrise.  Well……with the exception of some very bold and aggressive chipmunks.  I finally put my pack on and wore it during the sunrise to prevent the scores of chipmunks who were attacking it.

Clear views of Mt Baker and Glacier Peak with the smoke free skies...or should I say much less smoke than the last few weeks.

After sunrise, I came back down and took the Burroughs trail up to the First Burroughs. Then took the Burroughs Ridge trail back down to the Wonderland Trail passing the Emmons Overlook and Shadow Lake until I was back at the White River Campground.

I did not see anyone until I was on the Burroughs Ridge trail. There was one trail runner enjoying the same solitude I was seeking. There was a group of two who had come to hike the Sunrise area thinking the road was still open.

Those were the only people I saw for close to 6 hours until the last mile before the CG.  Then a stream of people started coming up the WT. All who had thought Sunrise Rd was open and had opted to hike up the WT instead.