USA/WA: Mount Rainier NP – Skyline Trail
Mount Rainier National Park surrounds the highest volcanic peak in the continental USA (of it ever blows – Seattle may be in considerable trouble). It’s a beautiful alpine landscape with stunning mountain views on a clear day, which is a rarity here – usually the entire volcano is shrouded in thick fog. The absolutely best hiking train is the Skyline Trail that originates at Paradise, goes up through spruce forests and alpine meadows at the foot of the mountain, and climbs around 2000 feet above the tree line and almost all the way up to the many glaciers of the volcano. For Rainier, it’s still early spring and absolutely the entire trail was snow-covered, a surreal hike!
