Went to Grand Park via Lake Eleanor.
Surprised to find a dozen cars parked on the road near the TH.
Maybe folks want to access Mount Rainier without paying the entrance fee (or getting the timed entrance permit).
Because 5 minutes from the TH, it's the national park boundary.
The sign says: no fire, no pets, no bike. Plus an extra sign for "no pets".
It's an easy hike, only ~1 mile, 400' to the lake.
Saw one tent. The lake is nothing special.
Better is yet ahead. More forest walk.
20 minutes later, reached a small meadow with a dried up pond.
Half an hour later, it's the south end of Grand Park. We proceeded a bit more into the park and found a great spot for lunch. Unfortunately, too cloudy to see Rainier. Of course, too late for flowers. Maybe mid July is the best time. Last time we where here were: 2008 and 2007. The Grand Park is large, maybe 1.5 miles in length 3/4 mile cross. Clumps of trees block the view for the whole area. May need to scramble up to Grand Park Peak to get the real sense of the grandeur.
I then proceed to walk around, off the trail, especially towards east where the flat plateau drops down steeply to Huckleberry Creek. The fun part is that there were so many grass hoppers, that each step kicked off a flurry of them jumping away from my feet. The flat park is not truely flat, a bit lumpy, some small ditches here and there.
Back on trail and hiked out.
The small meadow at the north end of Grand Park has some gentium in good bloom.
An easy and relaxed hike. A bit too far to drive for such a short hike. Next time, I'll come in July for flowers, and maybe do the northern loop, check out Crescent Lake, Crescent Mt, Independence Ridge, Sluiskin Mt...
