White River to Sunrise, Shadow Lake - Sunrise Camp Loop — Sunday, Jun. 12, 2016

Mount Rainier Area > NE - Sunrise/White River

Hiked to Sunrise visitor center from white river camp ground. Infrequent, easy snow patches start around 5100 feet. There is one section after that, around 5500 feet, that we relied heavily on our gps because there were no boot prints or trail markers. This was in a heavily forested and shaded area. When you are out of the trees, navigation becomes easier. Had lunch at the empty parking lot at sunrise. Kind of fun to sit in the middle of the abandoned parking lot, being sunny and warm. Hiked on further towards frozen lake, crossing some snow fields about 1-2 feet deep. Snow clears for a bit when you get out of the meadows, heading towards Burroughs in the rockier sections. We had spikes but didn't use them because the snow was really soft. Poles were good to have. We turned around about .25 miles from frozen lake. At this point there were some steep Avalanche shoots we didn't feel comfortable crossing without ice axe/crampons. Didn't pass ANY hikers. Saw some deer, lots of goat poo, and bear tracks. 9 miles total. Nice day.