Dayhike- Mt. Rainier National Park Summerland and Panhandle Gap

[BC]

My longtime best friend Sean and I headed up to Mt. Rainier on Friday.  Work has been uber hectic lately, so a good hike to work on the cardio and decompress a little sounded great.  I have been wanting to get into this part of the Park for many years now, the opportunity had just never presented itself.  But I made it happen.  Summerland is on the east side of the mountain, so between a little bit of rain/snow shadow and the warmer weather on the eastside it tends to melt out earlier than the rest of the park.  There is a small wilderness camp (2-3 spots for tents) at Summerland.  

Summerland and Panhandle Gap topo

It was forecast to be pretty warm, upper 80's in the lowlands, and this hike is very popular, we hit the trailhead early.  Its a hour, hour and half drive to the trailhead from the house.  Trail starts at 3800ft and we wound up at 6920' at Panhandle Gap.  Roundtrip distance I think was 12 miles.  We got the trail head with 3 other cars, of which all were cool meaning they were overnighters already up there.  One other car pulled up as we were getting ready.  This trail is super popular, I read a trip report from some hikers on Saturday, and said they counted 130 hikers!!!!!!!!!!!!  We hit about 10 hikers in total.

The trail is very gentle for the 1st 3 miles or so.  It goes thru magnificent old growth forest.  Some trees are massive, some firs range 6 foot across.  There is a short section in the cliffs above Fryingpan creek before a log crossing across the creek.  A gentle upward ranging section thru the wildflowers, then several short but moderate switchbacks you gain Summerland.



We planned to go another 1.5 miles and another 1000' foot gain or so up to Panhandle Gap.  The trail is very moderate up above the treeline, thru the rocks and scree from Meany Crest.  Another creek crossing with a great log bridge over it.  The glacially polished slabs looked like a great place to take a break, eat some snacks and soak my sore feet in the VERY FREEZING cold water.  The snowbanks were literally 50 feet away, so I dont think the water could get any colder and not be frozen!!!



We stopped at this same place on the way back down for a long break.  We spotted a bear in the meadow on the far left of the ridge line in the photo.  He looked to be foraging for a bit, then back into the trees and we lost him.  Onwards and upwards we went thru the very desolate terrain of the high alpine up to Panhandle Gap.  A couple steep sections of snow to traverse to gain the Gap.  I was really gassed at this point, but managed to make it.  The views of the mountain were astounding!!!!



Enjoyed the view for a bit and as noted headed back down the rocks for a break to pump water and get some more fuel in me.  We took it easy going down, met a few people headed up, I felt sorry for them because it was starting to warm up a bit.  We made it back to the truck without too much incident, other than me bonking.  I was whooped.  Im still sore today, but cant wait to get out again.

[Ben]

If it was in the 80s at the bottom, what was it like when you got higher up? Will all the snow where you were taking pics ever all melt, or will there still be some there when it starts snowing again?

[JMann2380]

Very cool; so how many miles did you end up hiking and how much vertical?  Seems like a heck of a first trip out!

[DannyBoy]

I can see how that would be tiring.  Our little hike at Yellowstone kicked the crap out of me.  You have some nice scenery around you.

[BC]

Just guessing, but Id say it was 5-7 degrees cooler up high...but the real nice thing was the breeze off of the snowfields.  Nature's air conditioning! 

The snow in the last photo will mostly melt out- there may be very isolated pockets left over that were very deep like at the base of cliffs and are a northern exposure(away from the daytime sun).  But there are also glaciers in that area, in that cirque behind me in the same photo, there is a small glacier.

I'm getting conflicting info on round-trip mileage.  The Park says its 11.5 miles RT to Panhandle.  But a map I have shows it as 10.8 RT to Summerland and another 2.2 miles RT to Panhandle- for a total of 13 miles altogether....I do know the elevation though- start at 3700, go to 6920.

[Ben]

our elephant mtn hike was comparable to that, but not as much. I'd love to have an area like that to do that more often, i loved that hike in yellowstone. So much better then just looking at it through a truck window

You guys get bugs there? anytime ive tried to take Pauley anywhere around here the last 3 weeks i get mobbed by the damn flies. I can deal with skeetos, but these flies go in your hair, and if you swat at them, they fly up, then right back down. Get 3 or 4 of them doing it, i feel like im going to lose my mind. They are always terrible in July and August and is fine rest of the year

[DannyBoy]

The woods behind Mom's house can be awful with the flies too.  Those are the worst, the one that only fly away for .5 second when you swat at them.

[BC]

All that snow makes for mozzie breeding grounds!  The high alpine like that as its thawing is just starting to enter prime bug season.  Thankfully typically by mid August they are gone.  We get mozzies starting around April in the lowlands and they peak around now for us.  Just stagger that as you gain elevation.  We get some really bad big flies- we call them horseflies.  They bite.  And HARD.  Typically not found way up high, but definitely in the woods and some prime hiking areas.  We also get the black flies like you guys seem to be talking about- just buzz buzz annoy annoy....

[Ben]

i would usually consider myself to be level headed, but those damn flies make me lose it like nothing else, i have 0 patience for them. It gets to the point where im swatting the air like a lunatic and then pick up pauley and try to run out of them, never works

[DannyBoy]

All that snow makes for mozzie breeding grounds!  The high alpine like that as its thawing is just starting to enter prime bug season.  Thankfully typically by mid August they are gone.  We get mozzies starting around April in the lowlands and they peak around now for us.  Just stagger that as you gain elevation.  We get some really bad big flies- we call them horseflies.  They bite.  And HARD.  Typically not found way up high, but definitely in the woods and some prime hiking areas.  We also get the black flies like you guys seem to be talking about- just buzz buzz annoy annoy....

ew, i googled horseflies and found this...

Ugh, horseflies. As a general rule, I'm not afraid of much, especially not bugs. But those damned insects scare the crap out of me! When they bite - and they will bite - it hurts like fuck. Not to mention, they're HUGE. The biggest one I've seen was 1.5" long (sure enough, it took a chunk out of me).

that would freak me out.  that is one huge ass fly!

i would usually consider myself to be level headed, but those damn flies make me lose it like nothing else, i have 0 patience for them. It gets to the point where im swatting the air like a lunatic and then pick up pauley and try to run out of them, never works

hah quit taking shortcuts through the swamps!  wow I've never had it that bad.  You would think Pauley would take care of all the flies with his 8 foot tongue.

[Ben]

they dont bother him at all. the only place i can go this time of year is sunny lake on the paved paths. if i venture off the pavement, or go anywhere else, its insanity. Doesnt help i always go at sundown, but that time works the best for me