Glacier Basin Loop, Glacier Basin, Burroughs Mountain, Wonderland Trail - White River to Sunrise — Jul. 24, 2019
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I decided to hike the loop counter-clockwise in order to get the major climbing out of the way early before it got warm. This worked out well, as it was cool and cloudy until reaching 2nd Burroughs, when the clouds began to breakup.
The first leg of the trip follows the Wonderland trail from White River campground to Frozen Lake. The trail starts out steeply, climbing nearly 2000 ft in 2-1/2 miles. Upon reaching a junction with a trail leading to Sunrise, the Wonderland trail continues along a relatively flat .6 miles to Shadow Lake. It then resumes climbing, until reaching Frozen Lake.
The second leg followed the Burroughs mountain trail from Frozen Lake until a junction with the Glacier Basin trail. There were four steep snow patches on the trail up to Burroughs (see picture below). There was a good boot path through the snow, and I didn't have any issues crossing them. I started to hike to third Burroughs, but after about a 1/2 mile, I thought better of it and returned to the main trail. It looked like lots of people were continuing. On returning to the saddle between 2nd and 3rd Burroughs, I saw a lone goat. The trail down to Glacier Basin provided views of Rainier, before dropping into the forest. There was one log across the trail on this section, but it wasn't to difficult to climb over.
The final leg went up into Glacier Basin for lunch, and then a return along the Glacier Basin trail.
Steamboat Prow, Mount Ruth, Wonderland Trail - White River to Sunrise, Burroughs Mountain, Shadow Lake - Sunrise Camp Loop, Glacier Basin, Inter Glacier — Jun. 4, 2019
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Apparently I hadn't gotten enough of this area over the last few days!
When climbing Mount Ruth last week, I took a shining to Steamboat Prow and wanted to have a go at getting to the "summit" of this little outcropping. Fortunately, it lies below 10,000', so I was able to do it without a solo permit. Having quite a bit of time to dedicate to the outing, I decided I would wander around after getting up this little summit but had no real plan of where.
Glacier Basin trail is changing daily. It is now pretty much snow free almost two miles in and you can avoid a lot of the snow as it doesn't cover the entire trail. The little "shortcut" you can take near the three mile distance that follows the river bed is getting tricky now with the snowbridges over the creek being out so you have to get creative if you don't want to get wet. If you don't want to bother, just continue on the normal trail. It is snow covered from here on out so make sure you are comfortable with navigation.
Unlike last week, the snow was firm and I made quick time up Glacier Basin and onto the Interglacier. A weekend worth of climbers had made a nice little staircase up the glacier that made for easy cruising. I did throw my spikes on about halfway up just so I wouldn't slide around and waste energy. Of special note here, I forgot my helmet at home and regretted it as the area was very active with rockfall. Fortunately, a good portion of the kick stepped path was out of the fall line.
I reached the summit of Steamboat Prow about two and a half hours in and was promptly nearly knocked over by the wind. So i dropped down off the summit, took in the sites for a few minutes then traversed over towards Ruth. On this traverse, the snow became very firm and I was glad to have my ice axe along. After snapping a few shots from Ruth, I looked across the valley and decided the Burroughs needed a visit!
Glissaded and plunge stepped down back to the Glacier Basin Trail and after trying to find the junction with the Sunrise Trail, I eventually gave up and just headed up. It was long though and I found the tell tale signs of where the trail was (cut logs). The trail is completely snow covered down low so again, navigation skills are a must.
Eventually as you climb into the trees, you get longer stretches of bare trail. But the snow is firm so if you are use to wearing spikes, I would make sure to have them along. Eventually the trees thin out but the snow coverage remains despite the fact that the slopes are south facing. There are a few sections in the upper basin where you must traverse steep, exposed slopes. So if you are not comfortable with this, wait until the trail melts out.
Made my way to Second Burroughs (didn't have time for the Third). Soaked in the views and headed down to First Burroughs. I decided here that the conditions looked more favorable if I headed on the south side of the Burroughs Trail as the north side had some cornices and very steep exposed slopes.
While a good portion of the south side of the trail is clear on the upper portions of the mountain. There is one particularly steep traverse that is very exposed. I climbed up and over part of it and then faced in and downclimbed. Again, if you are not comfortable with steep snow, best to avoid this trail for a while.
Curling around towards Shadow Lake, the trail is completely covered in snow again as is most of this area of Sunrise. I know this section well and made quick time to the junction with the Wonderland. Most of the upper portion of the Wonderland is snow covered and there is one undercut section that you have to cross right below the waterfall. At about 1,600', the snow clears out and it was easy cruising from there.
27 kilometers, 2,350 meters of gain in 7:15.
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Wonderland trail.
Did a full loop around Mt. Rainier, Wonderland hike. Started from Longmire and finished Longmire, clockwise. Did it in 11 days.
What a great experience. Awesome and very hard. At least for me. My backpack was way too heavy. Learned a lot from this hike.
I was walk-in for my itenirary Tuesday morning, second in line at 7 am. Had my 11 days written out and had to change only 3 of the days. Was on the trail at 8:30 am.
Lot of bugs on a west side and north. Wear a net around the face. On the east side bugs were not too bad. Some stream crossings where dangerous by whintrop and white water crossings. Please be careful and do not cross if you are not sure.
Most of my campsites were nice and quiet, but it is well known park so expect some crowds on few of the sites where dayhikers camp out.
There were bunch of berries along the way and piles of bear scat. I did not see any bears but they are around for sure.
Views of the mountains are awesome. I got up and going most mornings by 6:30 am so many of my views were without any other hikers for a while.
Some snow patches between Indian Bar and maple creek. Early morning snow is still hard so watch your step.
Just an awesome experience to be able to right this hike off my list.
Wonderland Trail, Sunrise to Mystic Lake, White River to Sunrise, Skyscraper Pass, Carbon Glacier, Grand Park via Sunrise, Berkeley Park, Northern Loop — Jul. 15, 2018
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- -The bridge is out, and the rangers said it will be rebuilt "sometime" in the future.
- -We chatted with nearly everyone we encountered for advice on current conditions and how they crossed, and recommend you do the same.
- -We intentionally timed our crossing for the morning by starting our hike that day at 430 AM and would recommend the same as the water level may vary by a foot from morning to mid/late afternoon. Others that crossed later in the day reported more intense crossings and several turned back. We arrived at the river at about 830 AM.
- -There are carins and orange ribbon flags marking a suggested crossing route that crosses the entirety of the river in one go (see photo). While free of whitewater, it was certainly swift and as the water is silty, it's impossible to gauge depth visually. We considered this location, but nearly all others opted for a crossing further upstream where the river breaks into several smaller streams, and we did as well (see photo of map).
- -We started crossing by heading up stream and found a large islet across a small channel about five feet wide and shin deep (note, AM river crossing, so expect higher levels later in the day). We kept walking upstream and found another series of small streams all shin deep that brought us halfway through. We had two final, more substantial crossings, each about knee to mid thigh deep, see photo. They were wide and we didn't know the depth until we made each step. We brought water shoes, but crossed in our hiking boots to maximize footing. We also used a two person crossing technique described by the rangers where the heavier person leads with poles while the second person grabs their pack and pulls down to help the first maximize footing. We carefully took small steps across with clear communication. It took a little practice and the person in the back is without poles and may feel less secure, so be mindful of them if you're in the lead. Others crossed facing each other, with hiking poles, or with sticks. Crossing without poles or a stick (easily found along the banks) would be hard.
- -Others that crossed later in the day described water levels at mid thigh (for a 6 foot+ fellow) to waste deep (5.5 to 6 foot people). Most made it across, several turned back.
- -The riverbanks on the west and east side are night and day different. We were fortunate in that the west side was largely free of brush and we could scout the banks easily for a crossing spot. The east bank is brush city. Ten foot high thick brush conceals a mazey network of boulders, mud, and small streams. Navigating this was difficult, arguably harder than crossing the river (in the morning), and took as much time as crossing the river. We ultimately made for the forest as it was much easier to navigate. We used the Hiking Project App and GPS to re-find the trail when it nears the river, see note on trail conditions. Opt for this, or walk downriver along the edge of the forest until you re-connect with the trail (but I'd avoid bushwhacking the length of the shore as falling and injuring yourself is a non-trivial risk).
- -Crossing from east to west is harder from a scouting perspective, and you may want to consider the marked route provided it's early in the morning (but we didn't try this spot, so I can't comment on depth, but another set of hikers described it as at least waist depth around noon). Turn back or look for another crossing spot if you feel unsure.
- -See youtube link for a video from our crossing area for more detail.
- -Mystic Lake was a large and busy campsite.
- -Yellowstone Cliffs was lovely, but one of two camp sites is swampy from snow melt, and will likely be so for a fair few weeks. One site was already occupied, so we found an open, dry area a few feet from the swampy site.
- -Berkeley Park camp site is now closed except for Site 2 (it has two sites plus group site) due to potential for falling trees. Site 2 is slightly north of Site 1 and the Group Site, but water access is through Site 1 and the Group Site. Spotted several bear scat heading to Berkeley Park.
- -We heard Fire Creek was also closed due to falling tree danger.
