First and Second Burroughs Mountain

Mt. Rainier from a highway view point on the way to Sunrise

Toward the end of August we tried to fit in as many trips to Mount Rainier as possible before the weather turned and the trails closed for the season.   I had been to Frozen Lake and Mt. Fremont Lookout but never on the Burroughs Mountain trail so we decided to try it.  

 The trail to Second Burroughs from First Burroughs at the upper left

 Almost to Second Burroughs

 Emmon's Glacier

 Mt. Rainier as seen near where we had our lunch

There are three summits, First, Second and Third Burroughs.  We made the first two summits but the day was waning and we knew it would take us too long to try for the third one so we enjoyed a lunch on Second Burroughs and returned back to the car taking the loop route that gave us different views on the way back.  Usually we count the number of other hikers and dogs we see but this popular park always has too many people to count and dogs are not allowed.  There were perhaps about a dozen people on top of Second Burroughs when this photo above was taken. 

Aster

Blue Bells of Scotland also known as Harebell

Magenta Paintbrush

Smaller mountain Lupine

Tolmie's Saxifrage

Our round trip was 5 ½ miles with a vertical gain of 1200 feet.  Most of the flowers were finished blooming but we did find asters, harebells (Blue Bells of Scotland), saxifrage, some of the smaller lupine and a few Indian paintbrush.   On an earlier hike to Mt. Fremont we had seen goats on the mountainside and this time we saw them in the valley between Mt. Fremont and Burroughs.   We also saw several chipmunks and butterflies.  

 Mt. Fremont Lookout just barely visible from the Burroughs trail

Frozen Lake from Burroughs trail

 Fritillary

 Chipmunk

Mountain Goats

As mentioned previously I am nervous of heights and the back part of the loop or our down path was in places very narrow with a steep drop off.  I don’t know if we had come up that direction and down the other side it would have been easier for me but going down the way we did was a definite challenge.  I tried to avoid looking over the drop off and keep my eyes to the opposite side of the trail but the surface was also quite rocky as well as narrow and as I didn’t want to trip on rocks it was not always possible to avoid looking at the steep down side. 

Looking straight down at the White River and a small pretty nameless lake just long enough to take a picture.

Part of Burroughs is Alpine Tundra with a very different rock and vegetation than lower down where there are trees and other types of plants.  It was a beautiful day with beautiful views! 

 Interesting rock formations

Shadow Lake