Boundary Trail (Nisqually)/Ridge

On May 17, 2023 I explored Mt. Rainier’s Boundary Trail (Nisqually entrance) as a possible approach to Mt. Wow. I followed the trail to a saddle where a social trail continues towards Mt. Wow on a ridge, steep in some places. Actually the Boundary Trail is steep and my unaccustomed downhill legs were quivering at the end of this hike. I turned back on snow covered slopes just below 5000’ as I was in trail runners and concerned about my legs and the length of day had I continued on (I summited Mt. Wow on June 6 from the West Side Road approach). This video will give the viewer an overview of the Boundary and Ridge leading to Wow.

Mt. Wow (6040')

First a note on the wonky video, which I eventually diagnosed and corrected after this trip. For those GoPro users, after a firmware update I had to make the Hero11 recognize that I had the Max lens mod installed

Third time’s a charm, trying for Wow from the West Side Road via the steep and unmaintained Lake Allen “trail.” Blog post is here. If you want to see more about the Lake Allen trail, click this. For this old guy it was an unrelenting, brutal day; stats: 6.7 miles/5018’ elev

Florence Peak (5508')

Mt. Rainier National Park's Florence Peak (5508') was #66 on the 100 peaks list for me. The Boundary Trail (Carbon River entrance) was in nice shape all the way to the saddle on Alki Crest, and the social/climbers trail along the crest led me all the way to the false summit. An easy scramble deposited me on the summit proper. May 26th, 2023 had me only stepping on a few very short sections of snow. I mistakenly figured that hitting Sweet Peak on the way back would be easy, but my attempt to reach the saddle leading to that lower wooded summit was a tangled mess of mossy rocks, snow, slide Alder and Devils Club. Surmising that perhaps I wasn't taking the best approach to Sweet, I elected to turn around an save that for another day. NOTE: I experimented with recording this trip in GoPro’s Superview mode…that won’t happen again.

Lane Peak (6012')

Lane Peak resides in the Tatoosh Range in Mt. Rainier National Park. It is described as a difficult scramble in the "100 Peaks in Mt. Rainier" guide due to a steep gully that must be ascended to attain the summit. On a beautiful summer like Thursday (October 5/2022) I decided to give it a go. The description was correct; but although steep, there are bountiful hand holds and I never felt very exposed. This was peak #65 for me in my ongoing chipping away at the list. The fact that the Tatoosh side of the park is simply spectacular, especially clad in fall colors, was icing on the cake. I mounted a GoPro Max 360 camera on my helmet to try to capture the essence of the gully climb.

Seymour Peak (6337')

Seymour Peak (6337') can be accessed a few ways. Since I was camping at Ohanapecosh campground, I elected to bike from my camp site up highway 123 to the Seymour west ridge, accessed right from the road. I stashed my bike out of sight and began the steep forested ridge climb at 8:30 AM, planning on getting the effort part of the bike/hike/bike done before the temperature reached close to the forecast 100 degrees. This was a straight forward climb and non technical, but the angle of the ridge was constant effort. In some ways the descent was more difficult, especially in the footing amongst the forest detritus and pointy sticks. By the time I got back to the bike the temperature was around 90, but minimal pedaling was required to arrive back at my camp site. Seymour is #64 on my Rainier 100 list.

Yakima Peak (6226')

Yakima Peak has the shortest access I've encountered yet, pretty much right out of the parking lot at Chinook Pass (WA 410). In fact, Strava had the round trip at 1.25 miles. This was a pleasant short jaunt despite rising temperatures, sporting great 360 degree views. Yakima was my first peak on the Rainier 100 list this year at #63.

Old Desolate (7137')

Old Desolate in Mt. Rainier National Park towers above Mystic Lake. Unlike singular peaks, Old Desolate occupies a long ridge. Towards one end the high point tops at 7137'. For this iteration I started at Sunrise and hiked the Wonderland Trail past Mystic Lake, Mystic Pass, and entered the area of Moraine Park. After ascending a dry wash to a plateau in Moraine Park, I climbed straight away to a sub peak on the ridge which offered astounding in your face views. However, to reach the summit proper I had to descend a bit and traverse the loose rock that covers the whole western face. The summit area is round and broad, peering down to Mystic Lake and across to the Burroughs Mountains and the entirety of the Winthrop Glacier. Stats for the day: 25 miles with 7700' vertical.

Central Cowlitz Chimney (7421')

This video starts on the contour below and around Banshee. Central Cowlitz is described as a moderate scramble, but I found the hardest part of the day to be the side hilling and route finding below Banshee to access the peak. The star of the day is the view from the summit, looking across to the sheer wall below Banshee and the Sarvant Glacier with Rainier in the background. As usual for this area of the park, goats were seen lounging in various places during the hike. Because I started and ended at White River campground, the day was longish at 22 miles with 5500’ elevation. Link to blog writeup.

Third Burroughs (7828')

Actually there’s a trail to First, Second and Third Burroughs mountains. I include Third Burroughs here because of the outstanding views to be had from this 7828 foot summit. Gazing down on the seracs of the Winthrop Glacier from a mere hike is a treat indeed! The first part of the video includes a short jaunt on the Emmons Moraine trail to check out the tarn downstream from the Emmons Glacier terminus.

Pinnacle Peak (6562')

Pinnacle Peak is generally described as a "moderate scramble." However, sustained class 3 scrambling on the upper approach makes this one of the harder peaks I've done. Slipping or falling here would not be pretty. My buddy sums up his thoughts on the climb on the summit shot, providing the "Mature" rating for this video. As usual, the downclimbing was more difficult than the ascent. However, all in all this was another magnificent peak in the Tatoosh range sporting expansive 360 degree views. Blog write up here.

Foss Peak (6524')

Foss Peak (6524') lies in the Tatoosh range in Mt. Rainier National Park. The approach is short, climbing a short way on the Pinnacle Peak trail to 5200', then proceeding via a way trail to the saddle between The Castle and Foss. A well established trail leads across the ridge between the two with relatively mild terrain all the way to the Foss summit. As usual for the Tatoosh peaks, expansive views in all directions are on the menu for most of the day. Blog write up here.

Scarface (6108')

Scarface is a relatively obscure peak in Mt. Rainier National Park that borders the northern section. It is accessed by driving FS 73 past Greenwater, WA. This is a fairly rugged road with deep potholes and ragged surfaces in some areas, but is generally OK for most vehicles that are not low slung. The peak itself is a wooded summit but sporting a sheer rocky face. Lake Eleanor is visible far below. I ascended via the ridge a bit past Lake Eleanor and descended via the south ridge (good boot track here), then intersected the Grand Park trail back to the vehicle. Although listed as an easy scramble, bashing through the woods and battling voracious mosquitos makes this a summit that one would probably only pursue because it's on a list. Stats: 8 miles/2400’

Barrier (6521')/Buell (5756') Peaks

The most difficult part of summitting these two peaks (Mt. Rainier National Park) was the access portion, involving unpleasant steep forest and meadow hiking. I connected the peaks via a ridge between the two, which was not difficult. Buell was a mostly wooded summit but with enough open areas to take in the views. To regain the Owyhigh Lakes Trail I basically went straight down a wooded hillside, in some areas so steep that I landed on my bum a few times from slipping on the forest detritus. Luckily it wasn’t a long section and I sighed in relief when I popped out on the trail, enjoying mellow slopes and easy travel back to my waiting vehicle. A worthy day indeed!

Banshee Peak (7400')

Banshee Peak (7400’) is accessed from Mt. Rainier’s Wonderland Trail at Panhandle Gap (6780’). The way trail leads to gentle meadowy slopes on the way, abundant with wildflowers and mountain goat in summer. The fairly gentle final ascent to the summit reveals an airy drop down to the Sarvant Glacier and views of the Cowlitz Chimneys. On my iteration I was camped at White River so most of this sojourn was on trail, totaling 21 miles RT and 4600’ of elevation gain/loss.

Howard Peak (5683')

Howard Peak is an easy scramble to a flat summit. There's a good boot path up the gentle slopes. Take the trail to Tolmie Peak (in view from Howard) starting at Mowich Lake. The steepest part of this hike was doing a direct line up to intersect the trail on the return. Another tick on the "100 Peaks at Mt. Rainier National Park" list.

First Mother Mountain (6480')

First Mother Mountain (Mt. Rainier National Park) is accessed from Knapsack Pass. It is described as a moderate scramble. It is not the first peak one can see from Knapsack; there is a fairly steady boot path that takes the hiker beyond to the actual peak. My only difficulty was on the return; it took several tries to get beyond one section as I was obviously off route.

Castle-First Mother Ridge Transit

The title sums it up. I attempted a transit of the ridge between Castle Peak and First Mother Mountain, but ended up dropping down to the Knapsack Pass trail at the end when confronted by rocky outcroppings. But that's just me, I got it in my mind to "escape". Others may well stay high, skirting the outcroppings on the right to connect the two peaks without the short detour to Knapsack Pass.

Castle Peak (6120')

Castle Peak can be accessed from Mowich Lake (Mt. Rainier National Park) by hiking the Wonderland Trail on the west side of the lake and taking to the woods, contouring around and up from the lake to a saddle. A nearer blocky peak is bypassed on the right side to climb Castle Peak. There is a boot path much of the way. Castle Peak has a flat summit area with two high points: the main summit at 6120', which requires a short scramble to get to, and the slightly lower peak on the opposite end of the plateau at 6110'. This one is relatively flat. At the end of this video I mention the transit across the ridge above Mowich Lake to continue to bag First Mother Mountain without backtracking. This transit is a separate video in the series.

Paul Peak (4800')

Another summit from the Mountaineers' "Guide to100 Peaks at Mt. Rainier National Park" list, Paul Peak is a forested climb culminating in a forested summit....not much in the view department, but pleasant enough. This forest is easy to negotiate, pretty much void of thick entanglements. The access is easy to find: after entering the park boundary on the Mowich Lake road, there is the “Paul Peak” trail.

Bald Rock (5904')

I’ve been off grid for a while since leaving Colorado on May 12th, occasionally resurfacing to check in with civilization. Lots of biking, skiing and hiking. Whilst hanging at Packwood with a retired friend of mine, I decided to bag one of the 100 Peaks in Mt. Rainier Mountaineers list, an easy one right off the Wonderland Trail between Box Canyon and Indian Bar. In fact the off trail section to Bald Rock (5904’) was easy going and more of a hike than scramble, but negotiating the Wonderland “Trail” above 4500’ was mostly on snow and rather tedious, requiring due diligence to stay in the vicinity of the trail. The western slopes are currently experiencing a record setting heat wave so the melt off should be accelerated substantially over the next week. I’m not complaining, I had the “trail” to myself and the views were unique on the spur that housed Bald Rock, looking back towards the mountain with the Cowlitz Divide in the foreground. This outing was 10 miles with 3100’ of climb, but the snow travel compounded the difficulty a bit.