Finding America: Mt. Pleasant
4 of 4 Rainier Hikes
AUGUST 2024
Spray Park Trail to Mount Pleasant Mt. Rainier National Park
Length: 6.9 mi Elevation gain: 2,198 ft Route type: Out and back
This was my last trip to Mt. Rainier National Park. Once I found a pullover that worked for the night, I realized it was going to be a holiday weekend. Hoping an early start would beat the crowds, I drove up the last 6+- miles to the trailhead and even before sunrise, managed to get the last available parking spot.
After a few miles hiking by headlamp, I made it to an open meadow area with great early morning light, looking back on Mt. Rainier.
Approximately halfway up the final steep slope up to Mt. Pleasant, I heard a snorting sound. When I first saw something moving, I guessed it was a marmot, then maybe a badger? Actually, a bear about 20 feet away, rummaging for blue berries. It never saw me and I enjoyed watching it for almost a half an hour before continuing to the summit with a side trip to Hessong Rock. I enjoyed the entire morning to myself before the crowds began to pour up the trail as I headed back down.
Mt. Pleasant Summit
Rainier earlier in the morning
I got a faint glimpse of 3 mountain goats in this valley below (too far for a photo)
Hessong Rock, left middle