Crystal Peak

Tomorrow morning Chinook Pass will be closed for the winter and wsdot closes the road on the west side at the entrance to Mt Rainier NP. So I decided to get one last hike up in that area for the year and decided to do the Crystal Peak hike, 8 miles round trip with 3,100 ft of gain. The first two miles are in the forest, but about 0.6 mile and 800 ft of gain, there is a short clearing off one of the switchbacks to get this nice view of Mt Rainier (photo has been cropped to look closer):

 At 1.5 miles the trail splits off to the right from the Crystal Lakes trail. About 2 miles from the trailhead, the trail opens up with lovely views of Mt Rainier, here looking up the White River.

 View of Crystal Peak with about 1 mile left to hike
There were icy patches off and on along the last 2 miles of trail, with the summit being snow/ice free.

 When the trail passes under this tree snag, know you are getting close

 The last section of the trail is up

 and up. I only saw one hiker coming down as I hiked up to the top, and had the top to myself. I saw about a dozen hikers heading up on my way back down the trail.












Loved the clear day, from the top I saw 6 volcanos!


Looking south to west: Mt Adams, Mt Hood (too hazy to show up on my phone photo), St Helens and Mt Rainier








From west to north: Rainier, Mt Baker (very hazy) and Glacier Peak

 To the east the cirque that holds Upper Crystal Lake. Last week we were came across that ridge line from Sourdough Gap to enjoy the views above Upper Crystal Lake looking toward Crystal Peak and Mt Rainier.

zoom of Three Way Peak and the hole in the rock near the top.

 Loved the hike down, enjoying the view!!!