[Slugman]

I have finally summited a named mountain, my first. I have wanted to hike in the Glacier View wilderness ever since I first heard of it last year. It's a tiny little wilderness, tucked up against Mt Rainier National Park's west boundary. I slept late to avoid the traffic, and left Lynnwood at 10 am. I breezed through Seattle and to Tacoma with no problems, and was on the cool back roads (hiway 7) to Elbe by 11:15, at the trailhead by 12:30. FS rd 59, the Copper Creek road, is totally unsigned. If you come to the Copper Creek Inn, you have gone too far. U-turn and hang the first right. Follow that road until it ends for the Glacier View trailhead. Do not attempt to find the trailhead as shown on the USGS maps. It is non-existant. Daisy and I started out at 1 pm, and we headed north at the first junction, towards Glacier View. But some guy on a FS road below was firing a gun almost continuously, and it sounded like it was coming from that direction, so we turned around and went the other way, south towards Beljica meadows. The very instant we crossed into the Glacier View wilderness, the shooting stopped, so I took that as a sign and we went to Mt Beljica instead. I had mapped and GPS'd both. The trail follows a ridge a bit, then drops down to Beljica meadows, which are pretty big. There is a giant grassy area with a decent-sized creek meandering through, with views up to Mt Beljica. We contoured around the meadows, past a couple of nice ponds with little cascades connecting them, and on up to the trail junction for Goat lake and Gobbler's Knob. We turned right, and headed up a little valley towards a saddle above Caroline lake. The trail disappeared in deep snow, but it was simple to ascend an open snow slope steeply up to the saddle. There was no trace of the way trail up to the peak of Beljica, so we headed up through the woods, detouring around major blowdowns by improvising switchbacks. Near the top we found the trail, and followed it up. It was amazing up there. The peak is practically a vertical cliff looking 1,000 ft straight down on the meadow we had just left. The view of Rainier is awesome, with the mountain seeming to tower over me. There was also a good view of St Helens, looking right into the crater, and a better view of Adams. I also saw a perfectly cone-shaped volcano in the distance, maybe Hood? It was located half way between Adams and St Helens, but much farther away. We got there at 4:30, and we stayed until 7:15, but then we had to bail. Daisy kept looking at me while I looked at Rainier as if to say "What's the big deal?" Then she would stand where I had been, look at the mountain, sniff at it like she might get a smell from it, then walk away like she was disappointed. It was hilarious. We were back at the car just before 9 pm, so we drove back a mile or so to where there is a great view right from the road, and listened to some Dark Side of the Moon while the sun slowly went down and the alpenglow bathed Rainier and the last flickers of sunset faded away. We finally left at 10:30, and got home at 1 am, a very awesome day. Today my legs are scarred from the brush on Beljica, but it was worth it. Pictures in a few minutes.

[#19]

Just what we need. Another peak bagger. That was Hood.

[Slugman]

Here are three pictures of Mt Rainier taken in a five-minute span, same camera settings, all unaltered.

Rainier 9 07 pm

Rainier 9 10 pm

Rainier 9 12 pm

[Stefan]

Finally!

[Flash Gordon]

Hey Sluggo! Great TR. Sounds like a great hike and I know the weather was perfect. You are just going to have to do something about getting up earlier Maybe too much nwhikers..... Also, wonderful pics!

[Slugman]

Thanks, Flash. But I got up late on purpose. Living in Lynnwood, I have to go through Seattle and Tacoma to get to this hike, or go down I-405, and both options are traffic nightmares at the wrong time. Since the hike is fairly short, and the days are long right now, starting late was the best option for me. Plus I had intended from the start to watch the sunset from near Rainier. I can get up early when I have to!

[newdawnfades]

You got me convinced, I think I am doing this one tomorrow. Hope it's clear and bright!