After travel delays including roadwork, unexpected traffic, slow drivers and an even slower elk crossing, I arrived at the White River entrance with exactly 3 minutes to spare before the reservation requirements went into effect at 7am. The parking lot was about a third full when I arrived at Sunrise, bathrooms were open but in rough shape, thankfully they were being cleaned and restocked when I returned to my car around 10:45am, but that also shunted the ladies temporarily to the pit toilets. The Sunrise lot was almost full when I left around 11am.
The trail to the Fremont Lookout is in great shape, just a few areas of wiggly scree that benefit from careful footing. Though a popular trail, it didn’t seem too busy, and there was plenty of room to spread out at and around the lookout to take in the spectacular views of Rainier and the surrounding areas.
Lots of wildflowers still blooming including lupin, aster, paintbrush, bluebells, cinquefoil and others. Saw a bunch of pikas, marmots, squirrels and chipmunks. The ground squirrels at the lookout have gotten way to comfortable with people, and were aggressively food motivated. I had pair of them repeatedly attempt to climb and jump on me when I sat to have a midmorning snack. As soon as my food was packed back away, they left me alone. Please don't feed the wildlife! Bugs are definitely annoying right now, even with repeated bug spray applications, but not so bad as to warrant pulling out my head net.
All in all, a perfectly lovely day on trail (any day with pikas and marmots is a perfect day in my book!). Happy Hiking!
Comments
shegoat on Fremont Lookout
Awesome pika and marmot pictures!
Posted by:
shegoat on Jul 30, 2025 04:49 PM
jennekehikes on Fremont Lookout
Thank you!
Posted by:
jennekehikes on Aug 03, 2025 09:07 PM
DK1998 on Fremont Lookout
Great shot of that first pika. BTW something I wish more of us would relay to others regarding feeding wildlife and dropping food products like orange peels... the wild animals take it into their burrows along with their other stored food, but it eventually rots and spoils the nuts and seeds they collected as well. Ultimately they end up with no food for the winter and starve. Please remind people of that if you ever see them dropping stuff on the trail.
Posted by:
DK1998 on Jul 30, 2025 04:59 PM