Thompson Family Hike Blog: July 27, 2013 - Silver Forest Trail - Elevation: 6400 feet

Today we went on a hike at Sunrise, on the Northeast side of Mt. Rainier. The Sunrise Visitor's Center and trail heads are at an elevation of 6,400 feet. We started out our visit with a picnic lunch near the Visitor's Center. This area is bear country, so we had to watch out for the big, hungry bear. After lunch we saddled Levi up in the baby-backpack and headed out on the Silver Forest Trail. This trail is 1.6 miles round trip, it is not a loop trail, but an out and back trail. The trail was very kid friendly, with very little elevation change or obstacles along the trail. There was no snow at this elevation. We did see a few squirrels along the trail, and heard and saw bird, but did not see any other wildlife. We did, however, see a tremendous display of wildflowers. They were blooming all over around the trail. Our views of Mt. Rainier were absolutely spectacular. We also could see Mt. Hood in Oregon from our vantage point. The large valley that the trail looked down on was the White River. On our way out of the park, we stopped at the White River and hiked down to it. The White River is fed by the Emmons Glacier on the Northeast side of the mountain and really does have a white appearance, perhaps due to silt or other minerals in the area. The river was very low, but I can only imagine the mighty river flowing when the river is at its highest level. We all had a great time, soaked up a lot of sun and had a great adventure hike on Mt. Rainier.