THREE AUTUMN TRIPS IN MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK by Darrin Gunkel
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ooler days and longer nights; less sweat and more stars. Maybe some relief from tourist traffic and definitely relief from July’s mosquitoes. Softer sunlight for better pictures, and the rich autumn color pallet, and skies scrubbed deep blue by early rains. September, October (and even November in a dry year) is the time to steal a few days and head for a Mt. Rainier National Park backcountry trip. Rainier, also known as Tahoma, is always busy, but the deeper you get into autumn, the less busy it is. Likewise with trails and backcountry campsites. Even in a park that receives two million visitors a year, you can find solitude and a world-class wilderness experience, and the chances increase as the year wanes. About a third of all backcountry campsites in the national park are first come, first served. Getting one of those sites, particularly in high demand camps like Summerland or Indian Bar, is a hard dice roll in high season. Things change after Labor Day. You begin to find more of the reserved sites, booked solid all summer by winners of the park’s early access lottery, freeing up. There’s less competition for the Above: Owyhigh Lakes and Governors Ridge. Facing page: The view from camp on Shriner Peak. Photos: Darrin Gunkel
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first come, first served sites. There’s also a better chance that reservations, made months and months before, go unclaimed. Rangers open those unclaimed sites to walk ups at noon each day. So, whether you’re planning ahead, or on a spur-of-themoment trip, the Fates smiles on autumn campers. Download the national park’s Wilderness Trip Planner, an easy visual guide to backcountry camps. It’s handy
for drawing up Plan B, in case the Fates frown, instead. Camps on quieter trails, like Shriner and Owyhigh, and in deep woods, like Olallie Creek, almost always have spots, and rangers have been known to send experienced hikers to dispersed, unofficial camping should their first choices be full. Now that your appetite’s been whetted, here are a few recommended trips:
