Skyline Trail

Skyline Trail
Click on any thumbnail below for larger images.
This was a rather grueling 5.8 mile loop that started at the Paradise Inn, a little over 5400' up and peaked a touch under 7000' up. It's a bit of a climb but as everyone along the path told us, "It's worth it". Bring water and lots of it. Also bring some food, it'll break up the hike nicely. Allow plenty of time to finish the hike, as coming down in the dark is rather nervewracking. Also, most people go on the route clockwise. This means your hike up is shorter but much steeper. My boyfriend, Scott and I went counterclockwise because we didn't know better, but I think I'm glad we did.

	Here's the rather inocuous sign at the beginning. When Scott and I started this hike, we didn't realize what we were in for. We didn't pack food and we had just one bottle of water between us. We thought, "The park's most popular hike, how bad can it be?"
The first waterfall (Edith falls) with a nice view of Mt. Rainier in the background. No clouds this weekend.
	We begin our descent down into a green valley. At the bottom there is a gorgeous falls in a very stoney area. The whole valley is covered with grass and trees and is quite pretty. Scott waits for me to hurry up.
Now the path starts going up. As we climb out the other side, I see a little mini-valley to the right of the trail. It's so pretty, I just have to take a picture. Besides, it affords me a chance to stop for a little bit.
	As we continue our climb up the other side of the valley, I turned around and was greeted with this view. You can see the trail winding through there if you look carefully (or click to see the full size picture).
After climbing some more, we reach a plateau of sorts. A bunch of people were standing around looking at yet another valley with binoculars. When we asked why, they pointed out 5 bears. 2 parents and 3 cubs. This was taken with my 200m telephoto and you can see how small it still was. The perfect distance for a bear, I think.
	We get a small reprieve as we headed down a little ways to this stream. Here's Scott grabbing some water to cool himself off. The water was freeeezing!
We were getting close to the treeline and the plants were getting scarce. However, near this stream created by the snow melting were a number of alpine flowers that were still in bloom.
	Here's me wishing I had a water filter. The water was so cold it had to taste good, but I was unwilling to try. So close, but so far.
Our first patch of snow! We did this hike the last weekend of August and there was still quite a lot of snow. I tried to make a snowman but ended up with just a snowball instead.
	Here's where the snowline really began. There were a lot of streams created by all the snow melting, but there was still a great deal of snow left on the ground. At this point we'd gotten past the treeline as well.
If you look towards the center of the picture, you can see a building. That's the inn where we started this hike. And we were less than halfway there.
	All the steps were beginning to really get to us. At this point the lack of food was really apparent and our legs were beginning to get very tired. Scott tried climbing up the steps but he told me it wasn't any better. Ah well. It was a good try.
The decision point. We still had no idea how much further we had to climb. This is where the Golden Gate and Skyline trail meet. We could take the Golden Gate trail straight back to the inn and it would be a little over a mile. But everyone kept saying it was worth it, so we pushed on.
	Almost no plants were growing at this point, and the only thing to see was rock and snow and LOTS of panoramas of nearby mountains. I was too busy making sure my legs were still moving to see much else, though. Here's me trudging up.
There are a number of places to sit on the trail up, and almost all of them have spectacular views. Scott sits and rests while taking in the nearby mountainscape.
	Oh....my....goodness. We MADE it. Here's Scott reaching the peak. And was it worth it, you ask? Definitely. The view was amazing. Be sure to bypass lower skyline trail and take higher skyline trail. (Lower skyline trail was closed when we went so it made our choice for us). The view is amazing. (I feel like I've said that already)
Just after reaching the top, a large gopher like animal ran past us, and we realized it was a marmot. It was really close and was not afraid of us. If you hear a high pitch whistling noise while you're up on the mountain, it's most likely one of these marmots. That whistle CARRIES.
	And finally, the view. You can see the glaciers tearing up the mountain as they slowly work their way down. Those little specks on the foreground snow are other hikers, just to give you an idea of how large this is. The mountain is so awe-inspiring. Just incredible.
Here's Scott's head dwarfed by the glaciers. From here on the trail you can follow another trail and head towards the glaciers. If you have glacier climbing equipment, this is where you go to climb to the top of Mt. Rainier. We decided we were rather ill-prepared to face that feat.
	Ahhh, the much deserved break. Here's me resting my poor legs in front of the mountain before heading down. Can we take it home?
One last glance back before we headed down. The mountain's just so big, it's hard not to keep looking at it.
	Working our way down now. There are more plants on this side and also more stairs. I just like this picture because the background looks painted. By this time the sun was beginning to set and we still had 2 miles ahead of us.
Panorama point is very aptly named. Just 200' down from the top of the trail, you can see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, as well as many other mountains. If no one else is there it feels like it's just you surrounded by sky and mountains and nothing else. It's beautifully melancholy.
	The peak in the middle that looks pretty far off is Mt. Adams. This was taken from Panorama Pt. close to sunset.
Ahhh, sunset on the mountain. While beautiful, it made us remember that we didn't have a flashlight. The last mile or so we did in the dark. Interesting, but I wouldn't want to repeat it. So while the trail was much more than we bargained for, it was very much worth it. The views were the most spectacular I've ever seen. I just hope I can coax my legs into going back.