10.3 miles, 2,000 feet of elevation gain (mostly in the first 2 miles). Bear Gap to Fog City, to the PCT. Followed PCT to Scout Pass and then up to Norse Peek. We (my husband and I along with our 14-year-old son) hiked this trail, as an out and back, in about 6 hours. There were very few bugs and hardly a skeeter in sight. We saw several monarch butterflies and the wildflowers were blooming. You definitely get the thrills of Mt. Rainier the views of Mt. Adams, the green surrounding the valley and hills below, and cell signal from Crystal Mountain without the crowds on this hike.
We started up the trail at Bear Gap around 8 am and returned around 1:45 pm, taking stops for pictures, water and snacks. The extra 200' climb to Norse Peak from Scout Pass was well worth it. The views were outstanding!
The Morse Creek (FR 462) road to the Bear Gap trailhead is passable beyond the "park here and follow the road" sign near the cabin. We were able to go up the road to almost the trailhead in our Honda Accord. We stopped short of a gully and parked in a pull out. There was one truck parked at the trailhead. I am glad we parked as far up as we could, because we needed the extra muscle for the climb up to the PCT. Look for a old sign that says “TRAIL” with an arrow pointing to the right.
The Bear Gap and Fog City trail were in great shape. There were some bushes hanging over the trail but nothing that made the trail impassible or hard to navigate. Several of the slopes were sun exposed; so, you'll want to go early. It felt warm coming back down with little shade. The trail up to Norse Peek from Scout Pass on the PCT did have a few down logs, but nothing impassible. In addition, the Bear Gap and Fog City trail do have a fair amount of shale rock on them, making it slightly difficult on the return. It got a bit slippery.
We saw an abundance of wildflowers along all 3 trails. The ones we could identify were magenta colored Indian Paintbrush, purple Lupine, and Beargrass. There were also several other “aster like” flowers, yellow “daisies” and lavender “daisies”. It was a sea of color in many places. About a mile or so into the PCT we could see the results of the Norse Peak fire in 2017. Many of the trees are charged; however, the vegetation is nice and green. It was a unique stretch of trail, in its own way. At 2 or 3 points on the PCT you can see the drainage on both sides of the trail.
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