Review #1600 My Dad lived in the Seattle area for over ten years. So I have taken many flights to Sea-Tac airport from the Phoenix area. Many of those flights I flew over Mount Rainier and had a window seat. If you have never seen Mount Rainier from the sky, it is an incredible sight to see. Mount Rainier is a 14,410-foot active volcano in Washington's Cascade Range. I just love how its snow cap peeks through the clouds as you fly over it. I always told myself that someday I would visit it and hike to the base of the mountain. My Dad never had any interest in getting up close to it, so I knew I would have to do my own trip to see it. I took an overnight flight to Seattle-Tacoma and drove straight to Mount Rainier National Park. I got there really early and ended up sleeping in my truck for a couple of hours. The start of the Skyline Trail is located at the Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitor Center in Paradise. I was happy I got there early because the parking lot fills up quickly during the summer season. There were quite a number of people in the parking lot preparing to do this hike. The Skyline Trail is a 5.5 mile round trip loop trail. There are rangers on hand at the visitor center to answer any questions that you may and offer safety tips about the trail. There is also a water refill station if you need to fill up your CamelBak. Because the Skyline Trail is a loop, there are two different directions to begin the trail. There are steps just north of the visitor center that lead to the start of the trail. At the base of the steps is a quote from John Muir inscribed on it. I started the trail to the right (counterclockwise) so that I could see Myrtle Falls right away. You can get great photos of both Myrtle Falls and Mount Rainier in the background. I really enjoyed hiking thorough the wildflower meadows at the beginning of this side of the Skyline Loop. I was entertained by a number of marmots that would follow me as I was hiking. They are everywhere on the trail. The Skyline Trail gets a little more difficult the father you go. The elevation climb is 1700 feet and there are some ice slopes along the way that do not melt. I had to hike through a few snow patches that were a little slippery. Sometimes it was hard to see where the trail is. I finally made it to the base of Mount Rainier and had my lunch at Panorama Point. There are a waterfalls on the mountain that you can see from a distance. Seeing this mountain up close was absolutely amazing. You can see the Tatoosh Range and the Paradise Inn near the Visitor Center to the south from Panorama Point. I also caught a glimpse of some mountain climbers going further beyond the Skyline Trail to climb this incredible mountain. My feet were sore on my way back down. But overall, I was happy I finally accomplished this beautiful hike for the first time. It was an experience that I won't forget. If you do not want to do the full loop hike, you can break off the trail and take the Golden Gate Trail back down to shorten your trip. Just keep in mind that Paradise is a day use only area and dogs are not allowed on the trail. After your hike, take some time to check out the Visitor Center. You can get your National Park passport book stamped there and there are lots of exhibits about Mount Rainier to check out. There is also a of couple places to grab food in Paradise if you are hungry. read more