We came to Washington to explore Mount Rainier National Park and bask in the glory of its towering namesake peak, however the clouds hid the mountain for the majority of the trip. In exchange, we were unexpectedly given a spectacular show of fall colors.
To celebrate summer’s last hoorah, we planned a 3 day trip to Mt Rainier National Park because neither of us had ever been. This would complete our tour of some of the best National Parks of the west after visiting Glacier, Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Bryce Canyon earlier in the year. We hoped the weather would cooperate and we would get at least one or two cloudless days for views of the elusive peak, but alas we only got a half day of clear skies.
Day 1
We had arrived late the night before, so we slept in a little bit before heading up to the Paradise Visitor Center. We spent a some time inside learning about the park and the wildlife before we set off on some of the trails in Paradise Park. The National Park service has even paved some of the most popular trails in this area to avoid further damage to the alpine environment.
The first spot we wanted to check out was Myrtle Falls, just a short walk from the visitor center its a small waterfall with Rainier directly behind it. The trail skirted the side of a hill with views of Mt Rainier ahead, the Tatoosh Range Behind and Paradise Valley below. The fall colors on the bushes were unbelievable. Both sides of the trail were blanketed with red, orange and yellow – not something we expected in early October!
When we set off from the visitor center it we had clear views of the mountain, but during our short hike up the hill, clouds quickly started to roll in around the top of the mountain. The peak would poke out every once in a while, but it didn’t want to come out while we were hanging around the falls.
On our walk back from Myrtle Falls we chose to walk up the Alta Vista Trail and do a small loop, hoping the mountain would show itself again. The trails up the mountain were incredibly steep, but enjoyable because of the views. We crested one of the hills and the top of Rainier was visible again, while just below it was shrouded in clouds.
There was quite a bit of traffic on the trails around the visitor center (it’s the main hub of the entire park), so we opted to explore some different parts of the park for the rest of the day. We drove down Seven Canyons Road to the Grove of the Patriarchs trailhead, where we could go on two different hikes. The first was to check out the Grove of the Patriarchs, an alluvial flat (really an island) on Ohanacopesh River where some big Western Red Cedar trees make their homes.
The trail initially parallels the Ohanacopesh River heading upstream until it crosses a bridge onto the island. On the island there’s a small loop on a boardwalk that lead up to the majestic cedars. The whole area has a very Redwood grove vibe, and also reminded us of the Trail of the Cedars in Glacier National Park.
Once back at the car we took the eastside trail that heads downstream towards Silver Falls. It’s a nice trail that is heavily shaded and sticks relatively close to the river as it heads down the canyon. It’s about 0.7 miles until you reach the waterfall where there are a couple of view points and some flat granite to sit on.
There were quite a few people on the Grove of the Patriarchs trail, but not nearly as many at Silver Falls. We even had the little waterfall to ourselves for a little while.
Day 2
We spent the majority of the day with our friends from Seattle hiking up to Bench and Snow Lake. We didn’t get many pictures as we spent more time catching up and being entertained by their little baby girl they brought along. The trail was loaded with fall colors and we even spotted a few fish in Snow Lake (though they were fairly small). We would have spent a bit more time at the lake, but the mountain disappeared behind the clouds and their little girl was getting a little restless!
On our drive back to our hotel that evening we stopped by Christine Falls. It’s a small pullout on paradise road where you can see the bridge of the road over a small waterfall.
Day 3
We spent the entire day on the east side of the park near the Sunrise Visitor Center. It was cloudy again, but we were hopeful that Rainier would show its face. On the drive up, we stopped at a pull out near the bridge over Fryingpan Creek to snap a few pictures.
The Sunrise Visitor Center was actually closed for the season and there were a few construction workers preparing the buildings for the upcoming winter. The clouds were still annoyingly low and it was quite cold at that elevation, but we opted to do a quick loop hike along the Wonderland Trail and Sunrise Park Road. The Wonderland Trail is actually a 93 mile long trail that circumnavigates Mt Rainier going through dense lowland forests and alpine meadows. We walked just a little portion of it and saw a pair of backpackers who were likely doing a longer section of it.
The start of the loop lead us along the top of the White River Canyon Rim and had some spectacular views (despite the clouds!) of the Emmons Glacier. We saw some deer grazing on the alpine grass and a family of pheasants.
Shadow Lake was the furthest we got from the visitor center before we turned back towards the car. The shallow lake was exceedingly low, but probably offers great picture opportunities at its summer peak.
For our last hike of the trip we stopped by Tipsoo Lake on Highway 410. This lake is renowned for amazing sunrise and sunset pictures with Mt Rainier in the background, but on this cloudy day we just enjoyed the beautiful fall colors.
Tipsoo Lake sits in a little alpine meadow bowl and has well used trail the goes around the lake. We did the short hike and loved the vibe, despite the traffic noise.
Overall, we got our first taste of Rainier National Park, with a bonus fall color backdrop. As alpine addicts, we will definitely be back to catch a few more glimpses of the elusive and beautiful mountain.
