[Mount Logan]

Flouting the conventional wisdom of avoiding the trails on a sure-to-be-crowded Memorial Day weekend, my wife Kimberly and I threw our packs into the car and headed for the mountains with our pup Lexie. Our destination: the Glacier View Wilderness, a 3,080-acre sliver of lakes, peaks and ancient forest that hugs the western boundary of Mount Rainier National Park. After driving through Ashford, we kept a keen lookout for the unsigned left turn onto FR #59. We arrived at the Lake Christine trailhead at the end of FR #5920 and donned our packs. The trail began in second-growth trees and soon crossed the wilderness boundary into old-growth forest. It was warm and we enjoyed the evening sunshine as we ascended the short distance to Lake Christine. We set up camp near the inlet stream on the east side of the lake and settled in for a clear, balmy night. Late on Saturday morning the heat of the sun finally drove us from our sleeping bags. We followed the trail to the rib north of the lake. Stashing our packs, we made a side-trip to the summit of Mt. Beljica. Nearing the summit, we broke out of the trees into the blazing sunshine. Purple, red, and yellow wildflowers framed unobstructed views in all directions. To the north and west sprawled the Puget Sound lowlands and the snow-capped peaks of the Olympics. To the south stood Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens, and we were even able to make out Mt. Hood though the distant haze. To the east our entire field of vision was dominated by Mount Rainier, the crevasses of the Tahoma and Puyallup glaciers standing out in sharp relief along with the massive Sunset Amphitheater above them. After returning to our packs, we continued north on the main trail. A profusion of avalanche lilies carpeted both sides of the trail as it dropped to Beljica Meadows and the junction with Puyallup Trail # 248. At the junction, we turned left and stopped at the first pond in Beljica Meadows. After lunch and a nap in the sun, we retraced our steps to the junction and turned north onto the trail to Goat Lake. The trail gradually dropped to Goat Lake just across the national park boundary from Gobbler’s Knob. After setting up camp, I took a walk and discovered that there were 3 other groups camping around the lake. One family had several kids fishing and shrieking with delight with each fish they hooked. There were apparently a lot of fish in that lake! Sunday morning greeted us with low-hanging clouds and cool temperatures. We retraced our steps up to the Puyallup/Lake Christine junction and Beljica Meadows, now shrouded in fog. From the north end of Beljica Meadows we climbed to a low saddle where the Puyallup trail meets Glacier View Trail #267, just a stone’s throw from the Glacier View Trailhead on FR #59. Continuing north on the Glacier View Trail, we made the long, gradual ascent to the ridge top where a spur trail goes to the left up to the top of Glacier View. Still cloaked in thick fog, we followed the main trail to the northeast and descended rapidly to Lake West. Just before the junction with Peak Two Trail #268 the trail was flooded under a small tarn, but we were able to circumnavigate it without much difficulty. Lake West was completely socked in as we bushwhacked around its east side. Upon reaching the south shore, we scrambled amongst house-sized boulders before deciding to return to the campsite at the north end. As night fell, our solitude here at Lake West was amplified by the damp gloom that surrounded us. We awoke to a dripping shroud of fog and eagerly climbed away from Lake West, hoping to escape the blanket of gray. Ascending the trail back up to the spur to Glacier View, we were encouraged by glimpses of blue overhead. We raced up the spur trail up onto the summit of Glacier View and were rewarded by a dazzling view of Mount Rainier as it emerged from the swirling sea of white and gray. From Glacier View we dropped back into the mist and made the descent back to the Puyallup Trail and Beljica Meadows. One final push over the saddle above Lake Christine, then it was all down hill back to the trailhead. After days of freeze-dried meals and energy bars, a juicy Overload and a blackberry shake at Scale Burgers in Elbe made a tasty termination to our wilderness weekend.

Lake Christine

Kimberly on Beljica w/ Rainier peeking over the top

Kimberly and Lexie on Beljica

Enjoying the sunshine and view on Beljica

Flowers on Beljica

Beljica Meadows and Mt. Beljica

Avalanche lilies

Boulders at the south end of Lake West

Rainier emerges from the fog as seen from Glacier View

Lexie on Glacier View

Descending into the mist

Sunlight blazing through the blanket of fog overhead

[Jeff R]

Looks like a pretty sweet trip, and time out in the hills! Nice report, info and pictures.