It is pretty widely known that Mount Rainier is hidden by clouds and fog during most of the year, so we had to make sure to visit up close to get a full view of this giant. When it is clear outside, and you are nearby, it’s really hard to miss! Mount Rainier National Park is a very popular place in the summertime, so we were only able to snag a campsite for one night (even though we booked it four months in advance), but we were still able to see a lot of the park in one weekend!
We wanted to utilize as much of Saturday as possible, so we set our alarms for 4:00 a.m. to catch the earliest Bainbridge ferry over to Seattle. Why so early? Because the summer waiting times to enter the park vary from 1-3 hours and every parking lot is full by 10:00 a.m. at the latest. My second cousin, Charlie, and his wife, Hannah, live in Seattle, so they picked us up on the way down to Mount Rainier National Park and we arrived around 8:30 a.m. (without any wait!) to the Ashford park entrance.
View of the 12th man lights on the early morning ferry to Seattle!
Mount Rainier National Park is split up into several different areas. We headed right to the Paradise area on the south side of the park to start with the Skyline Loop Trail. Usually you get non-stop views of Mount Rainier on this hike, but unfortunately it was crazy foggy the morning we were there, so we didn’t even get a glimpse of the 14,411 ft volcano mountain. That being said, Skyline Loop Trail was still a nice 5.5-mile loop with beautiful wildflowers, waterfalls, and plenty of marmots. Climbing 1,755 ft elevation on this hike helped us to work up an appetite, so we found a picnic table at the Paradise Visitor Center to eat some lunch a little after noon. Our favorite hiking lunch this weekend consisted of summer sausage, cheese, and wheat thins sandwiches with some chocolatey trail mix for dessert!
Mount Rainier National Park Paradise Visitor Center in the thick fog.
Usually Mt. Rainier would be in the background of this picture, but Myrtle Falls still looks cool in the fog.
Mount Rainier National Park Paradise Visitor Center in the thick fog.
Usually Mt. Rainier would be in the background of this picture, but Myrtle Falls still looks cool in the fog.
This is what our view would have been if we weren’t stuck in a cloud!
The fog started to lift and we found a marmot enjoying a sun spot.
This is what our view would have been if we weren’t stuck in a cloud!
The fog started to lift and we found a marmot enjoying a sun spot.
By the time we finished lunch, Paradise became a zoo of people looking to conquer the Skyline Loop trail. Luckily, we were done, and the trailhead for our much less popular second hike started from the opposite side of the parking lot, so we did not have to move our car. On the opposite side of the Paradise Visitor Center, down from where the bathrooms are located, you will find the Reflection Lake Trailhead. We followed signs first to Reflection Lake, which was not so reflective of Mount Rainier due to the wind and fog, and then back to a junction where we could follow signs to Narada Falls. The combination of these two hikes was about 4.5 miles with an elevation gain of 1,200 ft. The Narada Falls portion was cooler to us on this cloudy day because there were several waterfalls to listen to and look at along the way. If you go toward the falls, when you cross the road, head to the left-hand side of the bridge to continue following the trail.
One of the many waterfalls along the Reflection Lake Trail.
Reflections Lake wasn’t so reflective on this windy and cloudy day…
Gotta love multi-level waterfalls!
One of the many waterfalls along the Reflection Lake Trail.
Reflections Lake wasn’t so reflective on this windy and cloudy day…
Gotta love multi-level waterfalls!
Another waterfall on the Reflection Lake to Narada Falls Trail!
One more rushing multi-level waterfall in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park.
Another waterfall on the Reflection Lake to Narada Falls Trail!
One more rushing multi-level waterfall in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park.
The waterfalls on the trail above got us in the mood for more waterfalls (which there are countless of in this park), so our next stop was the Comet and Christine Falls Trailhead. It requires a brief drive back toward the Ashford park entrance from Paradise. This was our favorite hike of the day due to the elevation change and several beautiful waterfalls! This trail is an out and back four miler with about 1,400 ft elevation gain. You can take this trail up further, but we were content with ending at Comet Falls. If you do this hike, make sure you get up close to where Comet Falls is plummeting down because feeling the cold mist on your face is spectacular! We estimated the drop for this falls was over 100 ft.
On the Comet and Christine Falls Trail!
Comet Falls from afar!
Comet Falls so close you can feel the mist on your face!
On the Comet and Christine Falls Trail!
Comet Falls from afar!
Comet Falls so close you can feel the mist on your face!
So many vibrant wildflowers this time of year!
A great spot to hang out and listen to the falls for a bit 🙂
So many vibrant wildflowers this time of year!
A great spot to hang out and listen to the falls for a bit 🙂
After these three hikes, our legs were pretty tired, so we headed to our reserved campsite at Cougar Rock Campground. It is one of two sites you can reserve a camping spot in the park. This was a pretty standard developed campground in a convenient location between the Longmire and Paradise areas. We immediately started a fire and made our favorite campfire dish again, pizza pies! This was Charlie and Hannah’s first time eating pizza pies, and they both approved! We even tried a new pie iron recipe for dessert: a bread casing filled with peanut butter, honey, and bananas.
Fairly large campsites at Cougar Rock Campground in Mount Rainier National Park.
On Sunday morning, it was Charlie and Hannah’s turn to make the meal. They brought ingredients (that included bacon) for delicious breakfast sandwiches and had the brilliant idea to try breakfast sandwiches in the pie irons. Unfortunately, the wood was too damp, so we weren’t able to start the fire after Adam tried for about a half an hour, but they came prepared with a camp stove that worked out great for making our carb and protein filled pre-hike meal! After we finished breakfast and packed up, we headed northeast to the Sunrise Visitor Center, which is about a 1.5-hour drive from Cougar Rock.
Attempting to make breakfast over the fire!
Sunrise is another section of Mount Rainier National Park, located on the east side. There are several hikes starting from the Sunrise Visitor Parking Lot. Once again, try to get here as early as possible to avoid waiting in line to enter and to find a parking spot. We were very happy to see that the fog had lifted, and we could finally see Mount Rainier while in Mount Rainier National Park! We chose to do the Burroughs Mountain Loop Trail which provided great views of Mount Rainier the whole way. We started from the parking lot on the Frozen Lake Trail which is off to the right-hand side, then followed signs to the Burroughs. There are three Burroughs mountains, but we decided to turn around at the second Burrough and took the Sunrise Rim Trail/Shadow Lake Trail on the way back to the parking lot. This loop was a little over six miles with 1,400 ft elevation gain and took us a little under three hours. After this hike, we looked around the cramped gift shop and then started heading back toward Seattle.
We FINALLY saw the beastly Mt. Rainier when the fog lifted on Sunday morning!
Burroughs Mountain Loop Trail
View from the second Burroughs
We FINALLY saw the beastly Mt. Rainier when the fog lifted on Sunday morning!
Burroughs Mountain Loop Trail
View from the second Burroughs
The beautiful Sunrise area of Mt. Rainier National Park!
Found a cool turquoise lake!
The beautiful Sunrise area of Mt. Rainier National Park!
Found a cool turquoise lake!
Of course, we hit traffic driving back to the big city, but we got through it because we knew we were going to get to try Dick’s Drive-In for our post-hike meal! Charlie and Hannah explained to us that Dick’s Drive-In is a Seattle staple, so we had to check it out. It’s a burger, fries, and shake place with a simple menu (no special orders) and extremely low prices. They don’t have tables or anything, so we just ate in the car. If you haven’t been, we would recommend Dick’s, especially as a post-hike meal!
Charlie and Hannah introduced us to Dick’s Drive-In in Seattle for our post-hike grub!
As we’ve mentioned in other blogs, there’s always more we want to get back and see. If we can make it back to Mount Rainier National Park, we would like to do the Tolmie Peak Trail in the northwest portion of the park, which provides you with one of the most iconic images of Mount Rainier.