Plummer Peak

We were able to get above the smoky haze at Mt Rainier National Park this morning. We drove to Reflection Lake and hiked up to Plummer Peak via the Pinnacle Peak Trail, 4 miles round trip with 1.500 ft of gain. View of Mt Rainier at Reflection Lake this morning.

The first half or so of the Pinnacle Peak Trail is in the forest. We saw some wildflowers along the trail including many gentian and a few yummy ripe huckleberries.

The are several open spots in the forest to see Mt Rainier and Little Tahoma to the north.

There are also several scree fields, where we saw this marmot enjoying the view.

zoom of the marmot

We saw many pika scurrying through the rocks looking for greenery to add to their piles and into the homes. I was able to take zoom photos of a few of them.

View of Mt Rainier from the open section of the trail as it approaches Pinnacle Peak Saddle (the end of the maintained trail.

After the saddle, we headed west on one of the user trails going to Plummer Peak (in the background of this photo).

View of Rainier and Pinnacle Peak from the trail.

We choose the trail that went along the north side of the ridge.

We enjoyed the open views of Mt Rainier and watching the lenticular cloud forming on top of Mt Rainier.

The last bit up to the top of Plummer Peak is a short scramble and goes through these dead branches.

View of Mt Rainier from the top of Plummer Peak

Pano view to the south from Plummer Peak, the haze obscured the views of the volcanic peaks to the south.

Tatoosh Peaks to the east of Plummer Peak:

Mt Rainier and the Tatoosh Peaks to the west of Plummer Peak:

View of Plummer Peak as we headed down the trail

View of Pinnacle Peak and our trail along the side as we hiked back towards the saddle

View of the trail and Mt Rainier from the saddle

Looking back at the trail we took between the saddle and Plummer Peak 

I love the expansive views along the upper portion of the Pinnacle Peak trail.

Pika on right as seen along the trail on our way down.

zoom of the pika

One of many view s of Mt Rainier as we continued down the trail.

some of the wildflowers, berries and fungi we saw along the trail today:

  

 

  

  

 

  

  

 

 

3 Burroughs

We drove up to Sunrise at Mt Rainier National Park this morning to hike up to the 3 Burroughs Mountain. Our hike was about 9.5 miles with 2,400 ft of gain. View of Mt Rainier above Glacier Basin.

We hiked around Shadow Lake, view to the north.

We saw quite a few gentian in bloom along the early part of the trail.

Little Tahoma and Mt Rainier reflecting is Shadow Lake

Morning sun rays reflecting in the lake

View of Rainier from Glacier Overlook

grouse along the trail

View of a blue tarn and Mt Rainier as we neared First Burroughs

View from First Burroughs looking at Second Burroughs

View looking north towards Fremont Lookout

Pano view from Second Burroughs looking towards Mt Rainier and Third Burroughs

View of Rainier between Second and Third Burroughs

Pano from Third Burroughs, Winthrop Glacier on the right

View of the lower Winthrop Glacier and a distant Mystic Lake

View of Rainier and Third Burroughs as we returned up Second Burroughs

Ground Squirrel enjoying the view

View from First Burroughs of Mt Fremont and Frozen Lake

View from First Burroughs looking back at Rainier

Frozen Lake

Distant view to the south east from Sourdough Ridge

View of Rainier and First Burroughs from Sourdough Ridge

Rainier and purple asters from Sourdough Ridge

View of Rainier heading down to Sunrise Parking area

some of the wildflowers in bloom along the trail today:

 

   

  

 

 

Guillemot Cove

We went to the Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve south of Seabeck on the east side of Hood Canal to hike this morning. We took the Sawmill Trail down to the meadow, went over the new bridge and then did both the Stump House Trail and the Beach House Trail. We were planning to take the Ridge Trail to complete a loop near the bridge, but signs warned of very aggressive bees along that trail so we returned the way we came. Overall our hike was 3 miles round trip with about 375 ft of gain on the way back. It was a very quiet hike, we only saw two other hikers.  Enjoying the lovely forest.

Kids always find fun ways to enjoy the trail!

Forest opening up to the meadow

View to Hood Canal to the west as we headed to the new bridge.

Stump House

Stump House

Large stump and tree across from the stump house

Branches to swing on at a short trail spur

Small tree to climb on the side of the trail

View on the beach

The tide was up, so we hiked a short ways to the south, found a comfortable log for our lunch break and returned to the trail.

We saw a woodpecker (zoom) on our hike back. 

Dead nettles were the only wildflowers we saw in bloom today.