1st, 2nd & 3rd Burroughs Mountain Fall Hike

With the road to Sunrise on Mt Rainier open, we headed up to hike to Burroughs Mountain (1st, 2nd & 3rd). Depending on which trails you take, this is a 9 - 10 mile hike with 2,600 ft overall elevation gain. I like starting out on the Sunrise Rim Trail up past Shadow Lake and the south side of 1st Burroughs, in my opinion, this has the best views of Mt Rainier in front of you while hiking to Burroughs Mountains.

It was cold when we started hiking this morning, there was lots of frost on the trail, 

and the creeks had ice on them.

We walked around Shadow Lake and saw a nice reflection of Little Tahoma and the top of Mt Rainier in the lake.

 Was surprised to see a flower in bloom near Shadow Lake today.

















This trail continues up towards First Burroughs with fabulous views of Mt Rainier and overlooks Glacier Basin, and has great views of Emmons Glacier.

Panoramic view towards Mt Rainier as we neared First Burroughs:

 Zoom of the lake in Glacier Basin, and some of the yellow trees in the valley.










Panoramic view from between First and Second Burroughs looking west to north: Mt Rainier, Second Burroughs, Skyscraper Mountain, Mt Fremont and First Burroughs

We were able to see Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan to the far north beyond Mt Fremont Lookout.

We also enjoyed these views to the north between Second and Third Burroughs. Here, Mt Baker and Mt Shukan are seen to the right of Skyscraper Mt.

From Second Burroughs, the trail drops 400 ft, the gains 800 ft towards Third Burroughs

 View of Mt Rainier from Third Burroughs. We were so close, I had to take a wide angle photo to get in both Little Tahoma and Mt Rainier. Winthrop Glacier is to the right of Steamboat Prow and extended down below us.

 Zoom of some of the crevasses in Winthrop Glacier.

The views from to the north from Third Burroughs were amazing. Northwest: we could see across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountains.

To the far north, Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan

A little bit east, Glacier Peak and Dragontail far beyond Skyscraper Mountain and Grand Park.

And a bit further east, Mount Stuart beyond Mount Fremont.

 Heading back up to Second Burroughs after descending from Third Burroughs.

Looking back at Mt Rainier and Third Burroughs, while ascending Second Burroughs

Panoramic View looking from Skyscraper Mountain to the Lookout on Mount Fremont 

and the Cascade Mountains to the north. 

 Descending towards First Burroughs from Second Burroughs.
From First Burroughs, we decided to hike to Frozen Lake and the Sourdough Ridge Trail back to Sunrise.

From the Sourdough Ridge Trail, looking back towards First Burroughs and Mt Rainier.

 From the Sourdough Ridge Trail looking north towards Huckleberry Basin and McNeely Peak.

We saw a couple of mountain goats near the base of McNeely Peak.













View of Mt Rainier from the path down to Sunrise off of the Sourdough Ridge Trail.

Paradise Glacier and Cowlitz Rocks Saddle Scramble

We headed up to Paradise at Mt Rainier Nat'l Park today to enjoy the fall colors and to hike up to the Paradise Glacier and on to the Cowlitz Rock Saddle. The trip up to the Glacier and the saddlewas a scramble over loose rock fields and many stream crossings. Over all we hiked 9 miles with over 2000 ft in elevation gain.
From the Paradise parking lot, we immediately enjoyed the beautiful fall colors.






From Paradise, we took the Skyline Trail east towards Mrytle Falls and then continued on the trail















towards Mazama Ridge.

 We took our time, enjoying the colors and

















the views, here looking south towards the Tatoosh Range.












The fall colors continued up on Mazama Ridge. Here looking north towards Mt Rainier and Little Tahoma.

At 1.8 miles from Paradise, the Paradise Glacier Trail divides off of the Skyline Trail to the right.  Along this trail we found a tarn with Mt Rainier's reflection.










The "maintained" Paradise Glacier Trail ends 1.5 miles after branching  off from the Skyline Trail. From here, we would hike up what looks like a valley between Mt Rainier and the Cowlitz Rocks.









For awhile, we could follow a boot track up towards the Cowlitz Rocks traveling on the west side of the upper Stevens Creek.

We found this old weathered sign along the way.

Soon, the boot track had disappeared and we would travel over rock fields, moraines with loose rocks and about a dozen creeks, some easy to step over, others required rock hopping to get across.

These creeks are fed by the snow, melting off the glaciers.

 Looking up at the edge of the Paradise Glacier.

 Zoom photo of the glacier













As we neared the saddle between Mt Rainier and Cowlitz Rocks, we could see where part of the Paradise Glacier extended down. There was an ice cave at the end of the glacier.








We were able to hike up close to this small cave, but did not go inside.











I love the blue color inside the glacier.

The closer we got to the saddle   we were able to see the top of Mt Rainier again.

Near the saddle, there was a beautiful blue tarn in front of Cowlitz Rocks.

Panorama while standing on the saddle looking north: Mt Rainier on the left, Cowlitz Rocks on the right.

Regular photo, looking toward Little Tahoma and the Cowtliz and Ingraham Glaciers.

Panorama from the top of the saddle looking south: Cowlitz Rocks on the left, Mt Rainier to the right.

 We did not stay long on the saddle, or attempt the ascent of Cowlitz Rocks as the wind picked up to 35 - 40 mph. We dropped back down a ways to sit out of the wind and eat our lunch. Looking to the south, we had great views of the Goat Rocks, Mt Adams, the Tatoosh Range, Mt Hood and Mt St Helens. It was wonderful having these peaks as our view as we descended back towards the "maintained" trails.

 zoom of the Goat Rocks

zoom of Mt Adams

zoom of Mt Hood (very faint and far to the south)

zoom of Mt St Helens

We also returned to the fabulous fall color along the trail,

 so much scenery to enjoy today!










More of the colors and plants we saw along the trail today: