u/Maleficent-Row3880

Hey guys. I am going here in about a month. I plan on starting with hiking the skyline loop trial. After that I was thinking of doing the bench and snow lake trail (looks like it’s a pretty close drive with very nice like views). I got some questions.

1. is doing these 2 hikes back to back going to be brutal? I was thinking maybe grabbing food in between for some rest but wasn’t sure if I can just finish the skyline loop and drive to snow lake
2. are there places nearby that I can grab food or will it be a bit of a drive? In case I do want to wait between the hikes
3. apart from hiking boots, with these two hikes, do I need to bring anything else or gears? I heard someone saying to bring the hiking poles, but I don’t know if I will need it. I live in Arizona and hike pretty often here.
4. I for sure want to do the skyline trail, but do you think there are better options than the bench and snow lake trail? I’m looking for some pretty nice views of lake and the mountains.
5. what time do you recommend to be at the skyline trailhead? I will be going on a Thursday and I think school has started already at that point in WA (not sure if that makes a difference or not) or probably not as I assume most people that go to Mt. Rainier are tourists

Appreciate any other tips that you recommend

thank you all in advance