On a stormy day I drove to Sunrise, Mount Rainier’s highest visitor center. It sits at an elevation of 6,400 feet in a vast and colorful wildflower meadow.
On a clear day there are amazing close-up views of the massive Emmons Glacier and the summit of the 14,411-foot volcano. In a piece of good luck, the summit was only clear of clouds for several minutes during my five-hour visit and it happened where I had a good view.
After putting on my day pack and light raincoat, I hiked the six-mile loop trail past Frozen Lake to the top of First Burroughs Mountain, dropped a short distance to a saddle, and then hiked to the top of Second Burroughs Mountain at 7,400 feet.
The views were mostly obscured by a heavy cloud cover, but I was kept entertained by several more-than-friendly golden-mantled ground squirrels. When I wouldn’t feed them, one began chewing on my pack. What rascals!
Much too soon, I put on the pack, descended to First Burroughs Mountain, passed by Shadow Lake, before returning to the Sunrise.
One more observation, both of the Burroughs Mountains are remnants of lava flow and are probably the best examples I have seen of tundra in the Cascades.
My only view of Mt. Rainier’s summit
Such a nice Golden Mantled
Hey! What’s she doing chewing on my pack?
Hikers on the Second Burroughs Mountain dwarfed by Mt. Rainier
Frozen Lake
Bear-grass
Old Men of the Mountain
Pink Heather growing in the tundra above 7,000 feet
Hanging glacier peeking out of the storm clouds
Sunrise wildflower meadows
Looking up the stormy trail to the top of Second Burroughs Mountain
What date did you go up there? Curious if the flowers are still in bloom.
It’s probably getting a little late for the flowers. I went to Sunrise in mid-August. It would still be a great outing.