Of Mountains and Meadows
Naches Peak Loop Trail (PCT side), Washington
I hiked this trail yesterday because I wanted something short that I could finish early because of a heat advisory here for scorching temperatures again. This trail is just under 4 miles but has views, wildflowers, meadows, beautiful alpine lakes and tarns, and on the second half of the loop, spectacular views of Mount Rainier. It's one of my favorite trails to hike in every season. (Although those seasons are packed into just a few months as the road to Chinook Pass that accesses the trailhead is usually closed from mid-November after the first heavy snowfall to June when the road is cleared of snow again.)
There are two halves to the loop, the north side is on the Pacific Crest Trail and the south side is in Mount Rainier National Park. The PCT side shown here has sweeping views of the mountains and valleys, and beautiful meadows. This time of year they are usually filled with wildflowers, though they were much less plentiful this year than usual.
A highlight of this hike for me was seeing a mountain goat!! He was really high up on the very top of a ridge, hard to see without binoculars and almost out of camera range. I did get a couple photos zoomed in as far as I could. They are not anything spectacular, but if you want to see the goat you can see the photos here:
Of Mountains and Meadows
Naches Peak Loop Trail (PCT side), Washington
I hiked this trail yesterday because I wanted something short that I could finish early because of a heat advisory here for scorching temperatures again. This trail is just under 4 miles but has views, wildflowers, meadows, beautiful alpine lakes and tarns, and on the second half of the loop, spectacular views of Mount Rainier. It's one of my favorite trails to hike in every season. (Although those seasons are packed into just a few months as the road to Chinook Pass that accesses the trailhead is usually closed from mid-November after the first heavy snowfall to June when the road is cleared of snow again.)
There are two halves to the loop, the north side is on the Pacific Crest Trail and the south side is in Mount Rainier National Park. The PCT side shown here has sweeping views of the mountains and valleys, and beautiful meadows. This time of year they are usually filled with wildflowers, though they were much less plentiful this year than usual.
A highlight of this hike for me was seeing a mountain goat!! He was really high up on the very top of a ridge, hard to see without binoculars and almost out of camera range. I did get a couple photos zoomed in as far as I could. They are not anything spectacular, but if you want to see the goat you can see the photos here: