Crystal Peak

 Today was a great day to hike up to Crystal Peak in Mount Rainier National Park. The high clouds kept the weather cool, while allowing us to see 6 volcanos from the peak. We only saw a dozen other hikers today, and we had the summit to ourselves for an extended lunch break.

The trailhead is about 6 miles along Hwy 410 after entering the park. The trailhead is shared by the both the Crystal Lakes and Crystal Peak Trails.
The trail begins in the forest and immediately crosses a creak on a log bridge.








The trail climbs 1000+ feet in the first 1.3 miles, where the two trails separate.

In less than a mile, there is a small viewpoint on the other side of one of the switchbacks, where Mt Rainier can be seen through the trees.

From the junction of the two trails, the trail to Crystal Peak goes to the right and the trail levels off for a short distance on its way to cross Crystal Creek again.

There were lots of vanilla leaf and violets in bloom along this section of the trail.

 log bridge over Crystal Creek














view upstream of Crystal Creek

The trail then continues to climb in the forest, where there are a few peek a boo views of Mt Rainier.

 About a mile from the trail junction, this side of Crystal Peak has sparse trees and continual views of Mt Rainier.

 Today, there were only two snow patches to cross. There were good footprints in the snow, we did not need traction.
Crystal Peak in the distance.

 Looking back across the snow to Mt Rainier and the White River













As we gained elevation, we could see Mt Adams, Mt Hood and Mt St Helens to the south.

Panoramic view as we continued up Crystal Peak:

 The last short section of the trail goes straight up Crystal Peak.






















down below, we could see lower Crystal Lake hiding between the trees below Crystal Mountain.

 From the top of Crystal Peak to the south and west: Yakima Peak, Mt Adams, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier and the White River

  From the top of Crystal Peak to the west and north: Mt Rainier; in the very far north Mt Baker and Glacier Peak; nearby Crystal Mountain

 Directly east: Crystal Mountain, Silver King,  Three Way Peak, an icy Crystal Lake and Sourdough Gap

some of the wildflowers and other flora we saw along the trail today: