Sheep Lake to Sourdough Gap — Sunday, Sep. 5, 2010

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

A mystical day in the Mountains with most types of weather from fog with wind to sunny skies. Our group left Seattle about 8:45 with a coffee and gas break in Enumclaw and then on to Chinook Pass where we started (Tipso Lake parking lot). In the fog the trail over Chinook Pass to the PCT was hard to see so we wound up on 410 to the trail head. I noted with sadness that the PCT trail bridge over Chinook is down (been a few years since I was last at Chinook Pass). The PCT starts from the pass as a broad road and thins to a normal trail once you pass a parking lot with rest rooms and an area for horse trailers just below the pass (a good place to start the hike). Once over Chinook Pass the fog began to lift and we had sun patches on the way to Sheep Lake. The trail was in good shape, somewhat dry despite the weather and most amazingly with flowers still in bloom. We saw Mountain Pasqueflower (Old Man of the Mountains), Indian Paint Brush, Lupine, and Golden Daisy. The flowers were past their prime but still beautiful. We also found some huckleberries on the early part of the trail which were good eating. We had lunch at Sheep Lake and headed to Sourdough Gap. The Gap appears to be far above the lake but is a fairly easy walk on good trail. Views of the Cascades and Sheep Lake are excellent from the Gap. The way back to the car was easy and quick. My sense is that our trip took about 4.5 hours with breaks and some of us found the trail over Chinook Pass on the way back making an easier return to our group van. I estimate we walked about 7 miles with 1100 to 1200 feet of elevation gain/loss. On the way back we did get a great view of Mt. Rainier, a great way to end the trip.