Heidi's Hotspots: Mt Rainier National Park: Burroughs Mountain

It's a difficult task to find a photo location on Mt Rainier that isn't spectacular.

When I start to think of my favorite places or places to recommend to friends, my brain starts with the obvious - Paradise. Paradise is located on the south slope of Washington's iconic mountain and is bewitching throughout the year. One of the bonus points for Paradise is it's location. The light is almost always favorable any time of day, any time of the year.

It has to do with the mountain facing the sun so as you're creating your images, the sun is at your back. It's easy to spend a day, a weekend or more photographing the scenes and beauty around the paradise area.

On the other side of the mountain, is the Sunrise area which is beautiful in it's own right. And yes, as the name reflects sunrise and early mornings are the best times of day to photograph this side of the mountain. As mid-day approaches and into the afternoon, you end up photographing into the sun.

And yet, this hot-spot is on the north-ish side of Mt Rainier where the light isn't almost always wonderful. Nor is it accessible all year.

You come here in the morning during the summer and autumn (the road usually opens around July 4 and closes after the first significant snowfall), hike out past Frozen Lake and up to 1st then 2nd (and if you have enough UMPH left) then 3rd Burroughs and you will see views hearkening back to the ice age.

Views from 1st Burroughs reach northward from Berkeley Park just below you to Fremont lookout then the Cascade Range north to Mt Stuart, Glacier Peak and Mt Baker. Don't forget to look at your feet. This is alpine tundra up here. The alpine spring brings out the low-lying color of delicate flowers.

Continue up to 2nd Burroughs to look down into the glacial moraine of the Emmons Glacier. Bring a long lens to zoom in on the crevasses, deep and plentiful near the toe of the glacier. Also bring a coat for the ever present wind gets cold even on hot summer days.

Third Burroughs brings you all that much closer to the glacier for a vision of what the northern continent looked like during the ice age.

All in the shadow of the mountain. The closer you get, the harder it is to photograph the whole mountain even with a wide angle lens. Yet, dare I say, you'll be focusing in on the mountain's details to such an extent you won't really mind.

Oh, one last use for that long lens - goats. Rarely have I been to Burroughs Mountain without seeing goats. Dozens of them.The white specks in the image above are goats (guess who didn't bother with her long lens on that trip). And I've seen the odd bear in the area too - a cinnamon colored one.

Lunch On High

Burroughs Mountain 8/25/07 6 miles

Several years ago as Michael & I traveled along the wonderland trail we spied Burroughs Mountain not far from the Sunrise Visitor Center and vowed to return someday and hike up to the views we knew would be on the other side. After the office outing previously in the week, I thought this weekend might be a good time to head up.

The late flowers of summer were still hanging on to their last petals for the occasional bee that might fly by. They lined the trails and spotted the meadows with a bit of color. However, the first color of fall had begun to overshadow the yellows and purples of arnica and cascade aster. splashes of red enticed us around Frozen Lake to the junction with the Burroughs Mountain trail.

And then we passed into the Alpine Tundra zone of Burroughs Mountain - a fragile life zone that supports small plants, lichens, and the odd small mammal. The sign at the beginning of this life zone explained that this is similar to the Arctic Tundra life zone so to stay on the trail as a footstep will cause years of damage.

As we crested first Burroughs Mountain, we stopped to take in the sight and watch as more clouds built up around Emmons Glacier. The day had started out clear with the mountain gleaming in the sunlight, but as the morning progressed the clouds started building. As we reached the crest the top of the mountain was all but hidden. The clouds continued to drift past during our climb up to second Burroughs and our chosen lunch spot overlooking the Emmons Glacier and the White River.

One moment we could barely see the river below us as clouds obscured our view and frosted our fleece. Then the clouds seemed to part instantly to show us the hills across the valley if not the whole of Mt Rainier. After lunch and a visit from a local ground squirrel, we followed the trail on the other side of First Burroughs that led to Shadow Lake and back into the trees of the subalpine zone.