Mt. Rainier: Skyline Trail at Paradise

Hike Date: September 5, 2011

Hike Rating: A+

Hike Location: Paradise, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA

Hike Difficulty: Easy-to-moderate (the trail is extremely easy on the feet; the initial section is not even a real trail at all...rather a paved path; but this initial section is fairly steep while the grade of the later part is very moderate. Some clambering over snow is needed higher up.)

Hike Description: From near the Paradise Visitor Center, I followed the trail marked Skyline Trail. Due to time constraints (I only had 1 hr 45 min for a roundtrip), I only went up to the point named Glacier Vista and then retraced my steps. However, the trail goes further a bit more, to Panorama Point. The Visitor Center is at 5400 ft while Glacier Vista is at 6336 ft. This elevation of 936 ft is gained in around a mile. The hike is beautiful, and at this time of the year, it combines the beauty of green meadows full of wildflowers with views of rugged mountain peaks and tree covered valleys. The wildflowers were so ubiquitous that the air was laden with their scent (almost cloyingly so). Glacier Vista offers excellent views of the Nisqually Glacier. From this altitiude, one can also see over the Tatoosh Range to the south of Mt. Rainier and spot Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. On the way down, I added some variety by switching to the Alta Vista trail at the fork around midway in the descent.

Mt. Rainier from near the start of the trail

Looking south: Tatoosh Range and beyond
(Mt. Adams visible on the left; Mt. St. Helens barely visible on the right)

View of valley with Nisqually river

We are getting closer...

Mt. Adams (taken with a telephoto lens)

Glacier close-up (taken with a telephoto lens)

Rugged beauty of ice and rock

Looking back at Rainier  on the way down

I spot some skiers...

Wildflowers along Alta Vista trail

A couple of additional Mt. Rainier photographs not from the hike, but which I could not resist including:

Mt. Rainier from Ricksecker Point

Mt. Rainier from across the Reflection Lakes
(unluckily, the ripples on the water spoiled the reflection)