While out visiting our family in Washington State we decided we would like to take a day and just get out in nature. Our daughter is a hiker so we asked her if she would take us on a hike.
Nothing too strenuous mind you, we aren’t in the best shape and have been living in Florida the last four years at sea level so not many hills to climb.
She chose to take us on the Naches Trail Loop, a beautiful scenic hike listed as easy amongst the hikers’ groups. Sounded good to us. She told us we would have to leave by five o’clock in the morning to get there early enough as to not have to deal with crowds.
So, we were up at four thirty and ready to go when she arrived to pick us up. It is only about an hour’s drive from where she lives and where we were staying. The sun coming up on Mt. Rainier on the drive up was spectacular. The mountain had turned a bright orangish pink and was a sight to see.
At that time, I was wishing we had gotten up a little earlier to see the sunrise on the mountain, but the drive up was just fine.
We arrived just as the sun was rising and could feel the brisk cold of the mountain. We Floridians are not used to that. The largest hill near us in Florida is the overpass bridge that crosses the St. John’s River.
Our daughter had warned us that the first part of the hike was a little steep, however she reassured us that the trail leveled off and would be much easier. As we hiked the trail it continued going up hill, maybe not as steep but definitely still going up. But the scenery made up for the effort. It was absolutely spectacular.
We came across a deer on the trail, seen some elk tracks and some cute little chipmunks. But the biggest treat of this hike were the wildflowers. It’s wildflower season in Late July to mid-August and I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. The colors and types of wildflowers were breathtaking; we passed six lakes and all of them were surrounded by wildflowers. And in many areas on our hike, we had beautiful views of Mt. Rainier and in one area we even got to see Mt. Adams. So even though the hike was mostly going up the first 3 miles, we didn’t mind at all because the views were worth it.
About the trail, it is just under four miles long, from the trailhead we started on the western side to the left, this side our daughter said made for the best viewing as you hiked and she was right. We had many areas where Mt. Rainier was directly in front of us and we could just stop and take in the views. Our recommendation is to absolutely get there early. The last mile of our hike we passed many people starting their trek up as we were coming down and by being there early, we spent the first one and a half to two hours only passing a couple of people on the trail. We had that whole mountain to ourselves or at least that’s how it felt.
It was a little steep going up initially but then the trail turned into a gradual climb, and I did not find it difficult at all, and I am not in the best shape so if I can do it anyone can that does not have physical restrictions should have no issues.
I love to follow my daughters TikTok and Instagram pages @ PNW_HikingChick as she has some beautiful photos of here mountain hikes, and I had hoped that one day she would take her parents on one of her beautiful adventures. This was a great experience, our second hike with her and we hope we can do many more in the future. The scenery is worth it.
For National Park Service Map click here: https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/upload/Naches-Peak-Trail-Jan18.pdf
We left Enumclaw at 0500 and it took about an hour to drive up the mountain, If I were to do it again, I would leave Enumclaw and plan a 0530 arrival to the trail head. That would have been the perfect time to watch the sunrise.
No special shoes needed, good walking shoes were just fine. My daughter had her hiking poles, but we didn’t use them. and with her being a hiker she did have her hiking boots on, but I did just fine in my Hoka Walking shoes.
Also, pack water and a snack. We stopped at one of the lakes and ate a small snack, my daughter had jerky, granola bars, beef bites, and trail mix with dried fruits. We had our choice and was glad she packed a little protein and energy.
We highly recommend if you are in the Seattle/Tacoma area make this a must do day trip. You’ll be so glad you did.
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