Finding the Way My wife, Mitzi, and I were itching to get back up on Mt. Rainier this summer, so we called the ranger station for trail suggestions. With most of the west side still being severely snowed-over (into late July!), Glacier Basin on the east side was his top recommendation. We looked over our maps and decided to make it a loop, starting up Glacier Basin, to Burroughs Mountain, down around Sunrise Camp and Shadow Lake, then down the Wonderland Trail back to our starting point. In all, about a 10.5 trip with 3200' elevation gain. We were at the trailhead about 9:00 am on a clear morning under a brilliant blue sky. The ranger had mentioned that the trail was in pretty bad shape for the first 1.5 miles, following a big washout on the Inter-Fork from the previous year's storms. It was pretty torn up, but the route thru the debris areas were clearly marked with yellow tape ribbons. Along the way, we were treated to a few peeks of the glacier-capped summit. We didn't notice the cutoff for the Emmons Moraine trail. After crossing a small stream about 2 miles in, we had to scramble over some more recent blowdown. We quickly found more yellow tape markers in the wreckage and continued on. Perfect Hiking Day Following that, the trail was clean and clear - and utterly beautiful! Wildflowers were exploding everywhere - lupine, paintbrush, monkeyflower, buttercup, tiger lily, shooting star, and more! At 3 miles we hit the junction with the Burroughs Mtn trail and started the steady climb. The shaded trail passed thru a few small meadows full of Indian Hellebore (which I later found out is highly toxic!), then steep switchbacks. The payoff was huge. After turning one switchback about a mile above Glacier Basin, Mt. Rainier exploded into view, looming high above. It was a truly grand sight. After traversing the contour of the hill a bit farther, just before the trail turned north towards Burroughs Mtn, we were entered an enormous mountainside meadow, wildflowers everywhere, 180º view of Rainier, The Wedge, Goat Island Mtn, Mt. Ruth, Little Tahoma, Glacier Basin, and Emmons and Winthrop glaciers. Truly a sight to behold! Following the big meadow, the trail turned north, becoming much more exposed, heading away from Rainier. The steep, wooded switchbacks disappeared, to be replaced by a long, steady ascent to Burroughs Mtn. Almost There... We stopped for lunch at what I called "the saddle," the low point we passed through to the plateau just south of Burroughs Mtn. No shade here, and the midday sun was warm, but a nice, cool breeze blew off the mountain while we ate our pb&j. After lunch, another steady, yet not-so-steep climb to the top of Burroughs Mtn offered a tremendous 360º view of Mt. Rainier, Glacier Basin, Sunrise, and farther to Glacier Peak, the North Cascades and Mt. Adams. Rainier is so huge from this vantage point its like you could reach out and touch it - yet in reality is miles away! At this point - about half-way through our loop - all the uphill is done. From the top of Burroughs Mtn, its down, down, down. There's a gentle, exposed decent to Frozen Lake and the trail junction with the Wonderland and Sunrise trails. Along the way are spectacular views to the west of Crescent, Sluiskin and Skyscraper Mtns, as well as the gorgeous Berkeley Park valley. Frozen Lake wasn't overwhelming - just a small exposed tarn with some lingering snow on one bank. Perhaps earlier in the season. This spot was innundated with what a ranger we met affectionately called the "tennis shoe crowd." We didn't linger here long. We turned south on the Wonderland trail towards Sunrise Camp and immediately lost the crowds. Shadow Lake I The Sunrise Camp basin is a glorious area of meadows, streams, and small ponds, reminding us of Yosemite's high country. This was the only place we experienced some residual snow on the trail. Hardly enough to warrant pulling out the crampons and ice axes we were toting along in case the need arose. Sunrise camp is in a nice little basin, with several sheltered and semi-secluded campsites. It sits next to Shadow Lake which was a subalpine beauty. We made a mental note that we would have to come back here for a multi-day trip, taking advantage of this location, as well as a few others. We rounded the lake after a short snack stop, thru more small meadows, and missed seeing a black bear by less than a minute! Some hikers coming from the other direction excitedly shared their encounter with us. At just under 8 miles is another trail junction, with the option to either continue on the Wonderland trail south and down to White River, or east to the Sunrise area. Down we went. Water Crossing The trail is mostly shaded all the way, with a steep decent and lots of switchbacks - torture for the knees. Partway down, the trail crossed over the base of a glorious little waterfall cascading down an unnamed creek (at least, I couldn't find a name). Past the waterfall, the tree cover gets even more dense with no views. Its a long decent, but goes pretty fast. The White River campground - and our starting point - appears as if out of nowhere. Loop done. We chalked this one up to our "favorite hike of the summer" - so far! It offered unbeliveable views of mountains, meadows, glaciers, lakes, wildflowers - everything you could ask for! It took us about 10 hours to complete, but then we hike pretty slow because I'm a bit of a photog. We're hoping to get back before the weather turns and backpack several of the trails around Sunrise and into Berkely Park. Image gallery See the detailed report with maps at Backpacker.com