 Avalanche lilies near Paradise (07/08/17) |  Glacier lilies at the top of the Glacier Basin Trial |
It may be summer in the lowlands, but for mountain plants (e.g. our focal species on the Reflection Lakes
trail), it is still early in the season! This is because snow has been slow to melt from our Reflection Lakes
MeadoWatch trail and surrounding meadows (as of July 8, about 80% of the trail is snow covered), and our
focal plants can’t emerge and start to flower until that happens!
There both risks and rewards to early season hikes on our trails!
The rewards: you will get to see some of our earliest bloomers, Avalanche lily (abundant on our Reflection
Lakes trail) and Glacier lily (abundant on our Glacier Basin Trail) – see some lovely examples in recent
pictures above!
The challenges: we can’t place the markers until all the snow is gone, so even if you get to the sites,
you’ll have to use the pictures and / or a GPS unit to find the plots – like a treasure hunt! For example,
we have just one of our 11 trail markers out at Reflection Lakes (as of July 8th). You also will have to identify
a lot of budding phenophases (see two examples below), as not much else besides the two lilies pictured
above will be flowering.
The risks: You may need to navigate across snow, and avoid some the hazards associated with this
(e.g. snow bridges – see example below), on the Reflection Lakes hike in the next week or so
(week of July 10th and possibly 17th). If you are not comfortable crossing the creek (with or without snow),
you have a couple of options. You may be able to access the upper plots (3-11) via the west branch of the
High Lakes Trail (or even the fourth crossing trail from the Paradise creek), which allows you to avoid the
creek. Or, if you don't like snow at all, you can consider rescheduling to a Glacier Basin Hike (this hike is
almost entirely snow free – not surprising since the east side of Mt. Rainier receives about half the snow
that the southwest side does). Please don’t forget to also check our safety guidelines (includes some hints
and tips about snow navigation).
Happy hiking! Janneke
trail), it is still early in the season! This is because snow has been slow to melt from our Reflection Lakes
MeadoWatch trail and surrounding meadows (as of July 8, about 80% of the trail is snow covered), and our
focal plants can’t emerge and start to flower until that happens!
There both risks and rewards to early season hikes on our trails!
The rewards: you will get to see some of our earliest bloomers, Avalanche lily (abundant on our Reflection
Lakes trail) and Glacier lily (abundant on our Glacier Basin Trail) – see some lovely examples in recent
pictures above!
The challenges: we can’t place the markers until all the snow is gone, so even if you get to the sites,
you’ll have to use the pictures and / or a GPS unit to find the plots – like a treasure hunt! For example,
we have just one of our 11 trail markers out at Reflection Lakes (as of July 8th). You also will have to identify
a lot of budding phenophases (see two examples below), as not much else besides the two lilies pictured
above will be flowering.
The risks: You may need to navigate across snow, and avoid some the hazards associated with this
(e.g. snow bridges – see example below), on the Reflection Lakes hike in the next week or so
(week of July 10th and possibly 17th). If you are not comfortable crossing the creek (with or without snow),
you have a couple of options. You may be able to access the upper plots (3-11) via the west branch of the
High Lakes Trail (or even the fourth crossing trail from the Paradise creek), which allows you to avoid the
creek. Or, if you don't like snow at all, you can consider rescheduling to a Glacier Basin Hike (this hike is
almost entirely snow free – not surprising since the east side of Mt. Rainier receives about half the snow
that the southwest side does). Please don’t forget to also check our safety guidelines (includes some hints
and tips about snow navigation).
Happy hiking! Janneke
 Snowbridge across creek on 07/08/17. |  Subalpine lupine early stage budding |  Sitka valerian early stage budding |
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