Upper Lakes Trail
This was our last day in Mt Rainier, so we had to choose between two hikes: Upper Lakes Trail, which is a loop around Reflection lake) and the Naches Peak Loop, which crosses through the Naches Peak subalpine areas and includes one of the classic shots of Mt. Rainier reflected in Upper Tipsoo Lake. We chose the Upper Lakes Trail because he had been such a great wildflower hike last time we were here. This year it wasn't nearly as enjoyable.
It was about 8:30 when we reached Reflection Lake and there was almost no breeze. The surface of the lake reflected Mt Rainier almost perfectly, so we put our hike on pause and shot Reflection Lake for about half-an-hour. The shot needed clouds, golden light, a moose out in the middle of the lake, or Sasquatch coming out of the lake to make a good shot, but today's shot had a sense of serenity to it.
We hiked the Upper Lakes Trail loop clockwise again so climbing up to the ridge above the lakes was more gradual, but we were breakfast for every mosquito in the area. The only place I have experienced worse mosquitoes was backpacking in the Hoh River Rainforest in Olympic National Park. For at least 1.5 miles of the hike, we were human pin cushions for the mosquitoes. It was awful! When we reached the top ridge and the halfway point of the hike, the mosquito attacks finally subsided. But the wildflower fields we saw in 2014 were nowhere to be seen this year. There were still good views of the Tatoosh Range from Faraway Rock, but the hike was a bit disappointing. We will remove the Upper Lakes Trail from our must-do list for future trips unless it's an outstanding wildflower year.
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