Finally...this was a tough one for me. In 2019 I attempted it early November from the West Side Road, lost my Whippet in some dense brush schwacking to reach the upper meadows, and found fresh snow on the steep meadows. I turned back there as the days were short and finding that Lake Allen "trail" in the dark was not appealing. I made another half hearted attempt with a buddy the next year but he had concerns so we turned back. And a few weeks ago I scouted the route from the Boundary Trail (Nisqually entrance) and turned around below the ridge because of snow. I opted for the WSR/Lake Allen approach again as I was at least familiar with the difficulties involved.

*The upper meadows below the Mt. Wow ridge*

This is an unrelenting climb...6.7 miles RT with 5000' of elevation gain/loss, at least according to my track on Strava. This time I was able to proceed up the upper meadows (mtn goat sighting) and easily gain the ridge to Wow. As I crested and Rainier came into view, the words that escaped my mouth were "Holy Crap!" The mountain is massive from this vantage point and you can gaze down on the course of Tahoma Creek from its origins. After a break on the summit (6040') I reluctantly left this glorious perch and steeled myself for the descent. The Lake Allen trail is in poor shape and is easily lost/reacquired in the descent. I found myself on my backside a few times sliding down the hill and I won't repeat the epithets that spewed forth from my pie hole. When I finally regained my van on the road I felt completely worked, but very glad not to have to go up there again. This was #67 on my Rainier 100 list. The next day I recovered by biking the West Side Road and Paradise from Cougar Rock, a delightful and zen like day for 60 miles and 6600' of no sidehilling on my MTB pedals.