Day Hike to Grand Park, Mt. Rainier National Park

Grand Park is a large plateau on the north side of Mt Rainier very near the National Park's northern West-East boundary.  It offers great views of Mt Rainier on a sunny day.

1. Hikers will meet on Mercer Island, WA, and leave from there at 0700 hours (see attached map).  Have breakfast before showing up.
2. Group size will be limited to 12 persons – First come first serve.  It will be limited to members only.
3. All hikers must have been vaccinated for Covid-19 and should carry a face mask in case someone needs to go inside somewhere along the way.
4. We will drive from Mercer Island on I-90 headed east, then south on I-405 to Hwy 169 in Renton and follow Hwy 169 through Maple Valley and past Black Diamond until we get to Enumclaw.
5. In Enumclaw, we get on Hwy 410 and follow it past Greenwater until we get to the junction with USFS Road 73.
6. We then follow USFS 73 to where it crosses Eleanor Creek.  There we park and start our hike.  It will take 2.0-2.5 hours driving to get to the trailhead, depending on traffic.
7. The trailhead elevation is 4,443 ft. 
8. From there we hike about a mile to Lake Eleanor at 5000 ft. 
9. From Lake Eleanor, in less than 2.0 miles, we will be in the middle of Grand Park at an elevation of approximately 5600 ft.  We will not likely go farther south than that.
10. We’ll each have to carry our own day-packs, our lunches, and plenty of water.  Water access is limited in Grand Park.  On this trip, other essentials for hiking include sunscreen, mosquito repellent, TP, a rain jacket, and extra layers.
11. Gary Drobnack will be one of the drivers with his SUV, and we will need 2 other SUVs and their drivers.  As parking may be limited we hope to arrive in 3 cars with 4 pax each.
12. Contact Gary Drobnack by email (gary.drobnack@earthlink.net) or his cell phone at 206-330-5702 if you have more questions.

CLICK HERE to sign up.