The road to Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park opened on July 4th, 2024 for the summer season. And early in the morning of July 5th, our family was making the trek up the mountain for the second day in a row.
Our long and arduous (for our family!) 5+ mile hike on the Skyline Trail on July 4th left all of us pretty beaten up and exhausted. Our trail shoes were wet. Our faces were sunburnt. Our eyes were even a bit bloodshot – whether from our exhaustion or our hours of exposure to the bright sun reflecting off the snow, we’ll probably never know. But July 5th was our last full day to explore Mount Rainier before heading off to Port Angeles, Washingtong and Olympic National Park on July 6th, so up and at ’em early and off to Sunrise Lodge was the family decision.
Sunrise Nature Trail and Frozen Lake
The drive to Sunrise Visitor Center is on a road that is only open to traffic July through October each year depending on snow conditions. This year, the pass opened on July 4th, and July 5th we were making our way up the scenic twists and turns, being offered changing and ever more scenic views of Mount Rainier and the Sunrise basin as we climbed.
The Sunrise area offers a number of hiking trail options – many of which would have been right up our family’s alley had we not hiked Skyline the day before. We originally had our sights set on the 3 mile Emmon Morain trail, but listed as a moderate hike in the “Your Guide to the National Parks” book (we’ve been using this book as our hike and touring bible and it has yet to let us down!), we opted for a shorter, easier day.
We parked in the Sunrise Vistors Center lot and spent a little time walking around the Visitor’s Center learning all sorts of interesting facts about the history of Mount Rainier and the geology of active volcanoes.
We started up the Sunrise Nature Trail path, and once the path began its slight ascent, our youngest waved a white flag and called us out on our “this is just an easy, take in the sights by car and strolling around” promises. So, Mike hung back with him while our 10-year-old and I pushed on following signs that promised a viewing of Frozen Lake in 1.5 miles.
Frozen Lake was right where it was supposed to be a mile and a half into our hike. The water was brilliant blue, and it was, indeed, still partially frozen. But my son and I both agreed that the views of Mount Rainier from the trail far outshined the lake. Just our opinion!
On our return hike we ran into Mike and our youngest, who changed his mind and found some hiking energy left within him after all. He was happy to turn around with us, and Mike hiked on to see Frozen Lake himself. When we all met back at the parking area, Mike agreed with our sentiments on the lake being shown up by Mount Rainier. But truly, I can’t imagine many lakes aside from Crater Lake NOT being shown up by the majestic beauty that is Mount Rainier, so….
A Picnic Lunch at Sunrise
My soft-sided cooler, covered in small campers with the saying “home is where you park it” goes EVERYWHERE with us because we are picnickers. A) We prefer eating our normal diet while traveling – it makes us all feel healthier and more, well…normal. B) Eating out all of our meals, or even just our meals when we’re away from the camper would be WHACKY expensive. I can’t even…don’t want to even…imagine. C) Access to food within the National Parks is often incredibly limited.
Exhausted from not only our huge day before, but also just from weeks on the road, and also made arrogantly confident by the food options at Paradise Visitors Center on the 4th, I made the bold claim that morning at the camper: “I am NOT packing a lunch today!” I took my handy snack bars (mini Clif Bars, Z Bars, fruit snacks, maybe an individual serving or two of trail mix), and we ate our breakfast of bagels I made at the camper on the road, but I did not pack a lunch. The map indicated a fork and knife at Sunrise. We would be fine.
Like Julia Roberts tells those snooty women in the uppity clothing store in “Pretty Woman”…”big mistake. Huge.” I will rest easy in that our $36 lunch of a premade cooler sandwich, a lunchable, and a couple of Nutella snack sticks containers was hopefully partially a donation to the National Park Service. And I will also rest easily knowing that I will NEVER betray my frugal instincts or my soft-sided cooler ever again.
Sticker shock and lunch option deflation aside, our picnic was idyllic. We found a picnic table hidden down a path beside the learning center. The skies were a beautiful blue, Mount Rainier’s peak towered over us, and we ate our lunch and played a couple of hands of Uno. It was just what the doctor ordered for weary travelers.
Cowlitz River and Cowlitz Kolsch: Round Two
Both of our boys were excited to get back to the camper mid-afternoon to throw on their swimsuits and head back to the Cowlitz River Public Access to swim. All ideas of fishing were out of the question at this point. This was a place for swimming, and the wickedly hot temps in Packwood, WA made swimming in those clear, cold waters beyond inviting.
The public access area was packed that afternoon. Where we saw three or four families on the afternoon of the 4th, there were closer to twelve families or large groups, and the small crowd made the experience all the more fun.
As we were leaving after a couple of hours of refreshing water fun, I asked the boys if they would prefer staying at a campground with a pool, or a campground with a public river access like this one close by. They both chose the river. (They both changed their mind the next evening when they had a pool at a KOA, ha!). But still – it was a nice reminder that camping – life, really – doesn’t have to have all the bells and whistles to be really magical.
After dinner at the campsite, we headed back across the street to enjoy the live music and cold beverages at Packwood Brewing. The live band brought in even more guests, and though it took us a little longer to find a seat, we also spent more time enjoying the atmosphere on night two. We got ice cream from the awesome (and adorable!) ice cream airstream. Our youngest made a few friends over a couple of games of cornhole, and our oldest offered up entertainment in the form of card tricks to some of the other guests during the band’s break between sets. And as a backdrop to the whole scene looms Mount Rainier, its ethereal, snow-covered peak watching over the town below.
Mount Rainier carved a spot in the heart of each member of our crew for sure. But after one last sleep in Packwood, with the giant Mountain watching over us, it was time to head to Port Angeles and Olympic National Park.
