The Northern Loop at Mount Rainier had been at the top of my bucket list for quite a long time. The Northern Loop, as the name suggests, is a large loop spanning the Northern quarter of Mount Rainier National Park between Sunrise and Carbon River.
The Northern Loop shares roughly half of its trail with the Wonderland Trail.
When Everett and I had originally discovered this route, we had been planning to tackle the Northern Loop in 3 days / 2 nights. After a long summer of testing our limits and reducing our pack weights, we felt ready to take on the challenge of completing the Northern Loop in just 1 night.
Contents
Adventure Stats
Hiked in September 2022
Location: Mt. Rainier National Park
Route: The Northern Loop
Distance: 30.9 miles
Elevation: +9772'/-9797'
Nights: 1
Group Size: 2
Rating: 7/10 - see my closing thoughts
The Route
You can find more information about this route from a couple different sources:
Caltopo (Check out my downloadable route here!)
We took this route clockwise starting from Sunrise Visitor Center and camped at Yellowstone Cliffs. This route is also commonly done counter-clockwise (and for good reason too!); however, clockwise version positioned us for a really good mileage split between Day 1 and Day 2. This route can also start from the Carbon River (west-side) entrance. Sunrise Visitor Center starts at about 4000ft higher in elevation than the Carbon River trailhead. As a result, starting from the Sunrise Visitor Center can give you a much easier downhill first day and allow you to cover more distance when you're less tired.
Trail Report
Day 1 - Sunrise to Yellowstone Cliffs
We had secured a permit to camp at Yellowstone Creek through Mount Rainier's online reservation system a few days in advance of our trip. We arrived at the White River Ranger Station on Saturday morning, bright and early at 7am, to pick up our permits. The Ranger Station did not open until 7:30am, but arriving 30 minutes early allowed us to be the 3rd group in line to pick up permits and be on our adventure as soon as possible.
When we got to the Sunrise Visitor Center trailhead at around 8:30am, the parking lot had already begun to fill up. A volunteer approached us as we parked and informed us that backpackers planning to park overnight should park in the unpaved gravel lot so that day-visitors could get better access to the park.
Because the Sunrise Visitor Center is so high in elevation, at 8:30am in early September, it was freezing! We started off the hike with our mid-layers and outer shell on. Read my blog post about layering for more information.
Everett and I had previously thoroughly explored the Sunrise area through a series of day hikes, so it was a breeze for us to get from the Sunrise Visitor Center to the Frozen Lake / Fremont Lookout junction. This junction is a little bit hectic, since 5 routes intersect here. You will want to take the route that takes you downhill. If you're unsure of where to go, make sure to pay close attention to trail signs or take advantage of offline navigation.
You'll very quickly run into the next junction that officially starts the loop. Shortly after the junction for the loop, I had noticed the route to Skyscraper Mountain. It looked like a fun side quest for a future day!
The next couple of miles were a bit of a blur, because a majority of the route was downhill. We were able to keep a sustained 3 miles an hour pace for the first 14 miles of the trip.
We took a 30 minute lunch break once we hit Moraine Lake. It was a great private spot to sit and enjoy the ambiance before moving on.
Just before the end of our downhill section, we made sure to refill our water at Dick Creek. The National Park Ranger had informed us that the climb to Yellowstone Cliffs would be strenuous and that there was no water available during that section of the trail.
Was she right? Yes, she was. The hike to the top of Yellowstone Cliffs after a 14 mile day was probably one of the hardest 3 miles I had ever had to do. The switchbacks up to Yellowstone cliffs were extremely steep and warranted stopping for a breather after every switch (which I don't normally do). The benefit of doing this trail in the reverse direction is that you can take a steep downhill section here rather than a steep uphill section.
On our way up Yellowstone Cliffs, we encountered some other hikers who alerted us of a bear sighting in the meadows just past Windy Gap.
We were happy to find fresh creek water once we got to camp. The camp itself was a very well manicured backcountry campground with sites within listening-distance of a creek. The campground featured a vault toilet and a bear pole.
We layered up as soon as we got to camp to retain heat, set up our tent, and had dinner by the creek. We settled down for bed shortly afterwards and listened to Game of Thrones on audio book until we fell asleep.
Day 2 - Yellowstone Cliffs to Sunrise
Day 2 was a spectacular day. We saw not one, not two, but THREE bears in one day.
With sore legs from the climb to Yellowstone Cliffs the day before, we enjoyed that the first section of trail on Day 2 was through relatively flat meadows. We hiked this trail in September, just as the grass had begun to turn yellow, but I'm sure that this area is much more spectacular in peak summer when the grass is green and wildflowers are blooming.
Just after the first set of meadows, I began to think to myself that we had crossed the territory where the hikers we met the day before had their bear encounter. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, we turned a corner and saw our first bear of the day, nibbling on blueberries before a long winter hibernation. The black bear saw us and immediately pounced uphill into the forest away from us.
Remaining cautious, we pulled out our bear spray for the next quarter mile and spoke loudly so that the bear knew where to avoid us.
The meadows ended in a set of downhill switchbacks descending into James Lake. The trail then led us to the West Fork of the White River where the trail led us on three zig-zagging crossings of the same river.
We then ascended back up a set of switchbacks toward Grand Park. Just ahead of Grand Park is a spectacular overlook where you can get a private view of Mount Rainier and the West Fork of the White River leading down from the mountain.
Grand Park featured wide open plains which was an unexpected surprise after a weekend full of mountainous terrain.
We saw our second bear near the Berkeley Park Campground. Since Berkeley Park was well within walking range of day-hikers, this bear wasn't nearly as afraid of us as the first bear was. The bear sat and watched us curiously from the hill but didn't move much as we passed through.
We saw our third bear of the day shortly after exiting Berkeley Park, a little bit before the junction where the loop reconnects with its tail. Because this location was in a high-traffic area, the third bear was almost entirely desensitized by people. Many park visitors including children stared and took pictures of the bear eating by the side of the trail, and the bear didn't give any attention back to them.
The last little stretch of trail was mentally tough because we knew we were super close to the end. The route between the loop junction and the Frozen Lake / Fremont Lookout junction was the last uphill stretch. Once we got to that junction, we took a breather before setting back out to where we had started.
One last little note -- the trail that I routed on Caltopo took us through a National Park service road for the last couple hundred yards. It wasn't particularly picturesque, and I recommend just taking the same route that you start on instead.
Closing Thoughts
This was a very physically taxing challenge since most other backpackers that we ran into were taking 5-6 days to backpack the Northern Loop. There were a couple factors that I felt prevented us from having a better trip: we had hiked on an overcast weekend, we hiked in early fall when the grass was yellowing, and we hiked so quickly through this that it was difficult to process all the beauty around us.
Even though the stars didn't align for a perfect trip, I felt as though I rose to the challenge of completing this loop in just 2 days, and as with any trip to Mount Rainier National Park, I loved every single view I caught along the way.
