Rampart Ridge Trail, MRNP, 11/11/2012

Part 2 of my Mt. Rainier hiking day. In my previous trip report, I cut short my hike to Indian Henry's Hunting Ground because I thought it might be snowing hard. When it turned out it wasn't, I decided on a second hike. I saw on my map that the Rampart Ridge Trail was a 5-mile loop, starting at the Longmire Visitor's Center, so I decided to give that a try.

My trip report follows.

12:06pm
I'm on the trail again. It's still lightly flurrying, but nothing to be concerned about. I'm parked at the Visitor's Center, and the trail starts just across the road. According to the map, I'll do a clockwise loop. I'll take the Rampart Ridge Trail for about three miles. When it junctions with the Wonderland Trail, I'll take the right fork, which will bring me back to the Visitor's Center in another two miles. That seems like a perfect hike for the time I have available - and especially as the last weather forecast I saw had heavier snow starting at 3pm.

12:55pm
Longmire Overlook. Holy smokes what a climb! After maybe a quarter mile of flat ground, the trail started climbing relentlessly, switchbacking up a mountainside. As with the last hike, the trees are enormous, and it just seems magical to be hiking in such a forest of monsters.

There's been the occasional break in the trees, giving me a view out to the surrounding area. I've had a few very brief glimpses through the thick clouds of distant snow- and ice-covered mountainsides. They're gorgeous views, but quickly gone (and un-photographable with my phone's camera) and are a tease of what the views could be on a clear day.

My GPS says I've come 1.9 miles, and I'm sweating profusely. The climb has been steep and unrelenting. I'm wondering how much elevation I've gained, and I'm guessing somewhere between 1500 and 2000 feet.

1:18pm
Junction of the Wonderland Trail. The last mile has been blessedly flat, and seemed to be a walk along the ridgeline. I'm pretty sure that on a clear day, there would have been vistas of Rainier itself to the left - but today I just looked out into clouds and fog. It's still snowing, and maybe a little harder then before. 2.0 miles to the trailhead, and there has to be a steep descent from this point on.

2:04pm
Trailhead, Longmire Visitor's Center. The descent was steep, but not as much as I expected. I hiked a little over 5 miles in about 2 hours, and that was perfect.

Postscript
I'm discouraged to see that the Park Service website says the hike I just did has an elevation gain of 1339 feet. It felt like *much* more than that. But no complaints, it was a beautiful and challenging hike.

I have nothing but good things to say about both the hikes I did in Rainier. The only unfortunate thing was the weather - the cloud cover took away all the mountain vistas, which are undoubtedly spectacular. But there's nothing you can do about the weather, and the chance to hike among such amazing trees was pure pleasure.

If the opportunity ever allowed, I would gladly return to Mt. Rainier National Park for more hiking.

Distance: 5.20 miles
Elapsed Time: 1:57:07

Rampart Ridge-Wonderland Trail Loop (hiked clockwise)

My two Rainier hikes, showing proximity to the mountain (which I never saw)