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.