Stats
- Distance: 5.3 miles
- Vertical Gain: 1,513 ft
- Hiking time (including 45 minute summit rest): 4.5 hours
Conditions
- Weather: The day started out cold around 35 around 6am but quickly warmed into the 60s around 3pm. Moderate overcast that repeatedly broke out into blue sunny skies throughout the day. Several pronounced lenticular clouds could be seen over Mt Rainier in the late afternoon as I was departing. Amazing visibility - could even see Mt. Hood (by Portland) from Panorama Point!
- Road: Chains must be carried in Mount Rainier National Park in the winter weather but there was no ice or snow on the road nor any snow removal equipment running on the road. There were TONS of backcountry skiers on Saturday looking to enjoy the slopes of Mt Rainier, so the parking lot was pretty full - the main parking lot was filling up when I arrived around 10am and the park rangers started directing people to the overflow lot 15 minutes after I arrived.
- Avalanche Forecast: Moderate forecast at all elevations. With the warm weather lots of roller balls were present along some of the steeper slopes towards Panorama point. NPS had two rotating groups of "ski patrol" staff on the base of the steepest slope towards Panorama Point and on top of Panorama Point. They were mostly looking out towards back country skiers.
- Trail: There was a clear trail from the parking lot up to Panorama Point. The trail was very firmly beaten down and icy when I started hiking, but became more slushy as the day warmed up. The main trail could mostly be done with spikes, but most folks were either using skins or snowshoes. Off trail, the snow is not beaten down, so expect significant postholing without snowshoes. There are some fairly steep slopes on the way towards Panorama Point - a lot of the spike-wearers turned back at this point - but snowshoers and backcountry skiers were usually able to ascend successfully. The views towards Rainier were amazing, and with today's clear visibility Mt. St Helens, Mt. St Adam and Mt. Hood were all visible on the horizon. There were a lot of backcountry skiers / splitboarders going down the mountain at fairly high speeds. They usually stayed away from the main beaten down trail but sometimes would come close, so it's worth keeping an eye out to avoid an accidental collision.
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