[JasonK806]

Haven't been to the park in over 3 years despite living within two hours. Purchased an annual park pass last fall for my road trip and thought I should get to Rainier before it expires. I've always considered Rainier a busy place in the middle of July on weekends and never thought it would be worth the drive with the crowds. But this is not true of all areas and was treated to a quiet hike only seeing maybe a half dozen people the whole day. I guess it's not surprising considering the hike is pretty uninteresting until you get into Indian Henry's Hunting Ground. Started hiking at a somewhat late 8AM, got to the cabin at about 11am. Thankfully I brought some electrolyte powder to mix in my water for the remaining miles up Pyramid otherwise I might have turned back after sweating so much out. After being cautious of where I was putting my feet before the top because of the loose rock I was treated to some great close up views of Rainier. Estimated 16 miles round trip with about 5000' of gain.

Melted out success cleaver route

Dreading the hot hike back. The intermittent breeze helped.