Norse Peak Summer Hike Washington

 Another beautiful day for a hike. We drove up Hwy 410 toward Crystal Mountain Ski Resort for a hike up to Norse Peak. The hike is 10. 6 miles round trip with 2,800 ft elevation gain. There were wildflowers throughout the hike.
The first half mile is up a dirt road, then the trail heads up hill through the forest via 8 long switch backs, the several short switchbacks.

 At about 2 miles, the trail opens up and you can see the ski resort in the distance, Crystal Mountain is the large mountain on the right.

 As you continue to ascend, more and more of Mt Rainier appears behind Crystal Mountain. The hike takes you through large meadows as you climb toward the ridge line.











The trail opens up along the ridge line. The views are tremendous up here. The first part is on the south side of the ridge.

Then crosses to the north side of the ridge, where you can see Norse Peak in the distance. Stay on top of the ridge and don't descend down into Lake Basin. The trail will again cross to the south side.

Then crosses back to the north side (this photo looks back along the ridge where we have hiked).

We continued to enjoy the views of Mt Rainier.

There were a few short snow fields to cross.

Looking down toward Basin Lake in Lake Basin. The trail goes around to the back of Norse Peak before reaching the summit.

 View to the southeast, Mt Adams in the background.

 View to the south, Mt Rainier.

Panorama from southeast to south, Mt Adams and Mt Rainier:

With binoculars, we could see Mt St Helens behind one of the smaller peaks.

Panorama looking north over Lake Basin, the mountains at Snoqualmie Pass and the Stuart Range:

With binoculars, we could see Glacier Peak peeking behind some of the peaks at Snoqualmie Pass.

A fabulous place to sit and enjoy the views!

Here are some of the many wildflowers we saw today: