Berkley Park

We drove up to Sunrise at Mt Rainier National Park to hike to Berkley Park to see the wildflowers. We hiked up Sourdough Ridge to Frozen Lake, continued on a small portion of the Wonderland Trail to the Northern Loop Trail through Berkley Park. Our turn around point was at Berkley Camp. We returned up to Frozen Lake the way we had come, then continued on the Wonderland Trail, joining the Sunrise Rim Trail on our way back to the parking area. Overall 8.5 miles with 1,700 ft of loss and gain. Lots of wildflowers on a beautiful sunny day. View of Mt Rainier from the trail leading up to Sourdough Ridge from the parking area.

Along the Sourdough Trail there are some gaps in the ridge, giving us views to the area below and to the north.

zoom of views of Cascade Peaks to the north 

Further along Sourdough Ridge, we had good views of Mt Rainier and First Burroughs and to the far left of the photo, Shadow Lake.

Mt Rainier and some wildflowers growing below the trail

Another view of Mt Rainer and First Burroughs

Frozen Lakes has a lot less snow from when we were here 2-1/2 weeks ago, Mount Fremont in the background.

other end of Mt Fremont, Skyscraper Mountain in the background 

Douglas ground squirrel on the rocks by the trail

View of Mt Rainier, Second and Third Burroughs from along the Wonderland Section

We saw many marmots in the meadows today, I was only able to get photos of the ones that were resting. We watched some young marmots running across the fields and well as several adults.

Colorful wildflowers along the upper portion of the Northern Loop Trail heading into Berkley Park.

One of several marmots in the upper meadow

Wildflowers and views as we hiked down the trail:

We saw lots of gentian beginning to bloom in the meadows just before reaching Berkley Camp, our turn around spot.

More views and wildflowers as we returned up the trail:

After reaching Frozen Lake, instead of taking Sourdough Ridge back to Sunrise, we continued down the Wonderland Trail for a ways. More wildflowers along the trail.

Shadow Lake

wildflowers along the trail to Shadow Lake

Wildflowers in the meadows along the Sunrise Rim portion of the trail:

Views of Mt Rainer as we neared the end of our hike

some fungi seen in Berkley Park today:

 

some of the many wildflowers seen along our route today: