"I would definitely recommend this trip to a friend."
On a recent long weekend visit to Seattle, a friend and I knew we had to take in Mt. Rainier. Acting on the advice of a fellow hiker, we started out at Sunrise and enjoyed a full 7 hours hike (including breaks, which were brief). The hike offered a variety of views and challenge and was well worth the effort.
Our hike began at Sunrise, leading us to the First Burroughs Mtn trail. This trail is mostly uphill, providing a good warm up and spectacular views of Mt. Rainier. Friendly "hoary" marmots lead us toward the face of Mt. Rainier. Once we reached the highest point of that trail, we found the "directions" to the Second Burroughs Trail to be non-existant(?), so we just wandered a bit further and eventually ran into it. Make sure you have the trail map offered at Sunrise.
The Second Burroughs Trail is mostly downhill, which my friend found stressful on her bad knee, but she reports the pain was well worth it. While we never saw a bear along our journey, the solitude of this beautiful meadow and woodlands made us nervous; it looked like "bear country" to us, so we comforted ourselves with a few rounds of "One Hundred Bottles..." to ward off any friendly or unfriendly creatures.
From the 2nd Burroughs, we walked the mostly level path of the Glacier Basin Trail through the White River Campground and took a break. The next hour and 1/2 to 2 hours (I forget)would be basically all uphill, leading us back up to Sunrise. I found this last 2.6 miles to be wonderfully (?) grueling. I had thought I was in pretty good shape, but I learned otherwise on this part of the hike. My body looks pretty good to me, but my heart must be junk, cuz I had to stop quite often to keep my heart from beating out of my chest. It was a wonderful test of endurance, perseverance, and sanity. At the end, I was extremely exhausted but very satisfied; the sites along the way helped make it worth it. Incidentally, I drank 96 ounces of water on this hike, which took place in approx. 70 degree sunshine.
This trail, offering a variety of views and challenge was very well worth it. We will definitely be back for more!
Note: This is backcountry wilderness travel. You are responsible for informing yourself of the hazards and taking the necessary precautions.
-->