r/Mount_Rainier

Camp Muir snowfield conditions week of 8/17?

Headed to the park this coming weekend of Aug 22 and planning on hiking to Camp Muir. We’ve been monitoring mountain forecast and see chances of showers on Saturday so may bump it to Sunday/Monday when clearer. But my biggest concern is just in regard to current conditions on the snowfield.

I did read a WTA report from 8/15 that just said the snowfield was crappy and slushy with some blue ice, but didn’t mention any crevasse crossings. However, I haven’t found much else than that and am wondering if this time of year is just not a good time to go for hikers with relatively less experience assessing snow/ice conditions, given that reports/reddit posts from late August 2021-2024 show it being more sketchy?

We will be starting super early so the snowpack is relatively solid. We have crampons/poles/gps and feel comfortable with walking on the snowfield but are otherwise not super experienced mountaineers (have not practiced crevasse rescue, serious self arrests idk) so not sure if we should wait until next year for conditions to be better, or if we are OK To go as long as it’s a bluebird day.

Any thoughts appreciated!

How is the parking situation in this area now with the closure of Sunrise?  Did it go from bad to worse?  I will be visiting mid-September, mid-week and staying in Packwood. Would I need to drive there very early in the morning to find a spot?

Hello, I have an air bnb near mount rainier end of August but am worried about the wildfire smoke/limited parking with one entrance closed? I can't seem to find many updates. Has anyone been there in the last few days who can give me a realistic update on the situation on parking and smoke?

Side note: I know it is recommended to get to parking before 6am but we live on Whidbey Island and even catching the first boat, it doesn't put us there until around 730 - does anyone have experience with that time frame or should we wait until later in the day?

Appreciate the feedback! Thank you!

My niece’s boyfriend reached out to me asking for location suggestions for a surprise proposal in early October. They will be taking a trip to Washington to visit both the North Cascades and Mt. Rainier

He’s never been to either parks, and is looking for a proposal location that is beautiful, not too crowded, and easy to get to- he doesn’t want to drag her on a long hike before proposing, so ideally it would be a spot that has a pretty view, but on an easy, quick trail. Also! If it involves a lake that would be a huge plus!

It’s been a long time since I was in the area, so I’m having trouble coming up with ideas. I would so appreciate any suggestions! Thank you!

My Son and I will be visiting the last week of October. We are thinking about doing an overnight hike in the park, perhaps gobbler‘s knob. Does anyone have any thoughts on temperatures and or snowfall around the 26th and seventh? I know that’s later in the year so we weren’t sure what the conditions historically have been like.

We have barely 5 days to visit all three parks. Unfortunately, that's all we can muster at this time. Most people suggest NCNP -> Olympic -> Rainer. Since our flight lands late in SEA, I am considering (1) Olympic->MT Rainer->NCNP or (2) NCNP->Mt. Rainier -> Olympic. Since we will be arriving on Friday night, I am trying to avoid Mt. Rainier over the weekend, given the current fire-related closures.

Any suggestions on which route would be better? Flying in Friday late night and flying out on Wednesday late night out of SEA.

Hello All,

I’m surprising my boyfriend for his 30th birthday end of September with a quick trip to Mt Rainer. Our flight would land in Seattle at 10 pm and our Airbnb is in Ashford. Is the drive tough at night? I know it would be roughly 2 hours distance. Just looking for some advice! Please let me know of any other recs. Thank you

We are planning to go from Packwood to Silver Falls trail head but google map says WA123 is closed?

Looking for advise from this group. Plan to visit Mount Rainier for 3 days in first week of Sept with a 2.5 and 5 year old. My only concern are the amenities for the little kids. If I was visiting solo this would be a no-brainer but I'm slightly concerned on how to keep the kids entertained in our rooms outside of all the hiking and sightseeing we will be doing. Any advise is highly appreciated.

We are visiting Olympic and Rainier from 8/13 to 8/21 (Olympic 8/13-8/18 and Rainier 8/19-8/21). We are staying in Ashford on 8/19 and 8/20. 8/20 is our Paradise day, and 8/21 is meant to be our Sunrise day before driving back to Seattle on 8/21 in the evening to fly out on 8/22. We were planning to get up to Sunrise as early as possible to hike to Second Burroughs. In the afternoon, if we had time and the group still had energy, we planned to visit Tipsoo Lake and hike some of the Naches Peak Loop.

If Sunrise remains closed, maybe we would prioritize doing the full Naches Peak Loop on 8/21, but does anyone have any suggestions for what to do this day either at Rainier or elsewhere?

Note that we plan to do the Bench & Snow Lakes hike the afternoon that we arrive on 8/19, Skyline Loop on 8/20am and Reflection Lakes to Faraway Rock on 8/20 in the afternoon.

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