Today was a perfect summer day to hike up to Summerland on Mt Rainier near the White River Campground. This is one of my favorite hikes. The hike is 8.5 miles round trip with 2,100 ft of elevation gain.
The trail starts in the forest near Frying Pan Creek, with a gentle incline the first 1.5 miles. There were some huckleberry bushes along the trail, we were able to find some ripe ones to enjoy.
The trail begins to climb more steeply after this, but not too steep. There are a couple of switchbacks where you get views of the surrounding ridge lines above and Frying Pan Creek below.
There are several small log crossings with small cascades tumbling down.
There are a few clearings with wildflowers in bloom.
And at about 3 miles, there is a log bridge crossing Frying Pan Creek.
The trail now passes through several meadows with wildflowers in bloom and glimpses of Mt Rainier.
And with wildflowers in bloom, there were lots of butterflies.
Leading to the beautiful meadows at Summerland! (5,998 ft of altitude)
Some of the marmots were hiding under the trees.
And others were enjoying the meadows.
We had to protect our lunches from several chipmunks.
Lots of gentian in bloom today.
We walked over to the other side of Summerland, enjoying the flower lined creek, and continual views of Mt Rainier.
We heard several small glaciers and one large roar. We saw the snow form a cloud on the other side of Frying Pan Glacier.
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