Crystal Peak and Crystal Lakes

We drove out on the northeast side of Mt Rainier National Park (on Hwy 410) to combine the Crystal Peak Trail (8 miles/3,000 ft gain) with the Crystal Lakes Trail (6 miles/2,600 ft gain). Since these trails share the first 1.5 miles of trail and about 1,300 ft of gain, in combining them, our hike was 11 miles with 4,300 ft of gain. We were glad we did the peak first, as the sky was clear in the morning and the clouds were moving in over Mt Rainier by noon.

With all the recent snow melt, there was lots of water in Crystal Creek.

The joint trail climbs up through the forest immediately.

 At 1.5 miles the trail to Crystal Peak goes off to the right and is a fairly level trail until it crosses Crystal Creek.

The trail breaks briefly out of the woods as it crosses an old rock slide, then reenters the forest as it steadily climbs up hill for a mile or so.

 Before reaches the switchback at the end of this long bit, the trail emerges from the trees and Mt Rainier can be seen across the White River valley.

 The trail goes through meadows that are just beginning to bloom, the south Cascades can be seen.

After the switch back that is at the far south end of the trail, the trail heads northward continuing up the west flank of Crystal Peak as it heads up. There were two snowfields to cross along this section. We did not need traction, but were glad we had our poles.

Crystal Peak in the background.

As we neared the top, there are a couple of more shorter switchbacks, and far to the south, we could see Mt Adams and Mt Hood trying to peek out of the clouds.

 The last bit of trail heading up to the top of Crystal Peak

View of Mt Rainier to the west.

Pano from Crystal Peak looking south to west:

zoom of Mt Adams and Mt Hood to the south

Pano from the top of Crystal Peak looking north to east, the Crystal Lakes below us:

zoom of Lower Crystal Lake

zoom of the mostly snow covered Upper Crystal Lake

 After enjoying the views and taking a lunch break, we headed back down Crystal Peek to the junction where the two trails join.
















The trail up to Crystal Lakes is a steady uphill hike, mostly in the forest. There were two spots where we could peak through the trees to see Mt Rainier, now being covered by clouds.

One patch of snow on the way up to Lower Crystal Lake, most of it could be avoided without going off trail.

We decided to pass Lower Crystal Lake on the way up. View of Crystal Peak as seen between the two lakes

 There were two more snow patches on the trail to Upper Crystal Lake. Traction not needed today.

 First view of Upper Crystal Lake from the trail on the northwest shore. We hiked along the northern shore, but decided against continuing all around the lake as the southern shore was snow covered and we weren't familiar with where the lake started under the snow. So we hiked back out the way we hiked in.

Pano from the northeast shore of Upper Crystal Lake, Crystal Peak to the far right.

 Pano from the southwest shore of Upper Crystal Lake, near the camp

After enjoying a leisurely snack break, we headed back down the trail to see Lower Crystal Lake
  View of Crystal Peak and Lower Crystal Lake from the north shore

view from the west shore of Lower Crystal Lake
















 Pano from the south shore of Lower Crystal Lake

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