Ah, back in the PNW! Stopped by to say goodbye to the house, visited with the neighbor, registered the van in WA state (ouch!), other chores. Then it was, what to do for the weekend? I'll try to go snag a spot at White River at Rainier and do some training hikes. Ha Ha! I passed a few trailheads on the way, packed to the gills (Saturday morning)....even Poo Poo Point had no parking as I left Issaquah. And then I turned into the White River entrance and soon came to the backup with a glaring sign that said "Sunrise Parking Full." There goes my backup, just park at Sunrise and hike out of there. So I quickly did a U-ee and headed back down 410 to the Crystal Mountain turnoff. I know they have 40 spots in the B lot with electrical hookups ($40/night) and when I got there, I was surprised to see just 9 RVs. I snagged a good spot, plugged in and had lunch. Back in 2018 when I was doing the "Mt Rainier All Trails Project" I had planned on a nice loop to include the Crystal Mountain Trail and Northway Trail, as a portion dips into park boundaries. However, the weather was iffy and a buddy and I actually took the gondola up to check it out. While we were eating it started to snow (Sep 14). So we headed out on Northway and I did just enough to cover the portion that was inside the park boundaries.

Now the weather was fine, so I decided on a short loop before dinner as a pacing trainer. Yes, there were plenty of people on the trails, especially as the Silver Creek trail (along with the Crystal Mountain Trail) is how people descend from taking the Gondola up. However, it was getting later in the afternoon and the crowds noticeably thinned by the time I was back at the van 3 hours later. I felt good on the hike and looked forward to a longer loop on the morrow. Stats: 9.5 miles/2500'.

*Climbing away from the lodge area at Crystal Mountain on the Silver Creek trail*

Ah, van life. I woke up to no alarm, cranked the heat (36 in Enumclaw), made eggs and avocado garlic toast, watched a movie on NetFlix (good coverage here), then finally got out the door at 10 AM. Today I planned on the long loop, essentially starting the same as the day before but proceeding past Henskin Lake to the Crystal Mountain Trail, eventually taking me past the Gondola UMJ crowd to solitude on the Northway trail. I always thought a spot right before Grand Park had one of the best views, with the White River visible 2000' below streaming from the mountain. But this day there was a new contender; the mountain wasn't as near, but I could see a huge swath of the White River drainage 2000' below me. Awesome. I continued on solitary trail until it started the switchbacking descent all the way down to Sand Flats (3900'). Here I stopped for a break, then continued across the road to start another long ascent up to Norse Peak. Eventually one comes to the remainders of the Norse Peak fire in 2017, and the white spindly sticks still standing against the intense blue sky was pleasing to my eyes. I wasn't sure how much altitude I had done to that point, but I did not plan on doing the offshoot Norse Peak. The maps (and gps) showed that I would have to backtrack to get to the connector trail to the PCT, but I went past this point a bit anyway. Interestingly enough, on Strava it shows a trail connecting from Norse Peak over the other side, so perhaps I backtracked for no reason? As they say in Maine, WHATEVER, so my poor old legs went a striding to the PCT and I started southward. I finally ran into two northbound hikers, but otherwise, the trail was greeting only my feet at the moment. The day before I had climbed on the short loop to the PCT heading north, then taking the Boullion Basin trail back to the parking lot. Same heading south, but there was a short, steep connector trail to the Boullion Basin trail, saving me a little time. When I finally arrived at the van, there were less RVs (the following morning I was just one of 6). Some of the trails were gullied dust bowls so I had to whack the shoes and socks until the clouds of dust subsided before I could go inside to the waiting hot shower. It was only when I uploaded the Strava info that I knew how much I had done, and it felt like it.....24 miles and 6200'.

It was opportune that I stayed at Crystal vice White River as, especially on the long loop, there were new and far reaching vistas on basically lonely trail (once past the Gondola), making it a real pleasure for my first hikes back in this area since March.

*Clouds A’gathering towards the end of the long loop from Crystal Mountain*

*Henskin Lake, which I passed on both loops out of Crystal Mountain*