[Zloi]

This describes a trip to a ridge near the north boundary of Rainier Park. It has nice views of that part of the park and Rainier’s north face. In dry conditions with good visibility I found it a satisfying, mellow day’s ramble. Taking FS 73 from SR 410, it’s about an 8-mile drive to the Lake Eleanor TH. No road issues except potholes. The park boundary is just steps up the trail. A mile farther is a pleasant little camp on Lake Eleanor. The trail continues up to Grand Park in 2-3 miles and eventually runs into the Northern Loop trail. Just beyond the lake it goes up and over the toe of the objective ridge. This is a good place to start cross country although I started a bit earlier. Once on the ridge, game trails abounded and made travel easier, although the woods are generally pretty open in this vicinity. The first views were at Pt 5862 on the USGS map. This is a bare rock outcropping above any surrounding trees and afforded the best views, since the rest of the ridge is pretty thick with trees. From here it is a short walk, again over distinct animal tracks, to a high point above a sheer cliff visible from Lake Eleanor—Scarface (6108’ on USGS). More trails south along the easy and pleasant ridge, passing numerous blueberry patches, lead to a southern high point (5911’, slightly mismarked on the USGS). From there I made a traversing descent down to ~5400’ to the surprise of some fleeing elk. The terrain becomes gentle there and is obviously a big hang-out for elk. Heaps of scat and other signs are everywhere. I heard in the near distance “bugling.” It actually sounded more like a factory whistle, and later the same or another elk made a sustained, higher pitched whistle. I know little about elk behavior and can’t say whether these sounds were “normal” because in the past I have heard deeper, more horn-like elk bugles. In any case, the animals are abundant in the area near Grand Park. The latter is well named. I got a great view of it from the ridge and it is, indeed, huge. I had thought to make my way over to it but it seemed too far for my time and energy level, so I used my phone GPS to cut back to the trail for the hike out. I saw a few other day hikers on the way out, but compared to other parts of the park this area is practically deserted. Lots of huckleberry bushes in the vicinity of the lake and the berries are perfect now. Mileage:~7.5 Vertical: ~2000’ Scarface from Pt 5862

Scarface from Pt 5862

Lake Eleanor

Elk trail along the ridgetop--as good as a human-made one

Elk watering hole

Plume of smoke to the west of and beyond the Stuart Range, probably from the 25-Mile fire near Lake Chelan.

GPS of route. The broken section is when Gaia stopped working and I had to close and reopen it. Annoying.