Mt Rainier - Sunrise

After climbing 4,983 ft I was at the top and end of the road

This post seems a bit overdue, but things have been pretty busy the last few weeks.  Nevertheless, I did want to share a bit about my Friday a few weeks back.

After feeling great about my ride up Mt. Baker, I really wanted to see if I could take some time to head up Mt. Rainier.  There are 2 ways to head up Mt. Rainier (known by PacNWerners as "The Mountain").  You can go up to Paradise or Sunrise.  After some research I found that Sunrise had a slightly steeper grade and higher overall elevation.  I found a route that started at Federation Forest State Park and up Hwy 410 to the Sunrise turnoff before taking "the climb."  At an overall average of just over 5% I was feeling very confident about the ride.  Hindsight is 20/20 and that is a BEAST of a climb.  It felt great to get to the top.  My legs were screaming at me on the way up and it was an incredible burn.

I was planning on finding a Tuesday or Wednesday to head up, but with work getting busy and weather turning to a PacNW fall, I wasn't going to pass up a day with temps in the 70s on such a beautiful volcano.  You can see from the pictures and data links below, but from when I started, I was at a 1% incline or more with the exception of one 4-5% decline which dropped me 472 ft.

The full trek was 37 miles.  It took 21 miles from where I started to the official entrance to the park.  At about mile 16-17 I crossed the Mt Rainier National Park arch, but it was at mile 21 when pulling into the Sunrise climb where you pay your park fees.  Prior to the park there were a few 1-3 mile segments at 5-6% which were great to stretch out my legs.  By the time I paid my fee, I was ready to take off the vest, lose the arm warmers, but I kept my knee warmers on.  My jersey was already soaked through, and unfortunately, I got some sweat on the lens of the camera, so some of those pictures didn't turn out the best.

I was surprised how little of the mountain I saw as I was in the first 20 and even once getting into the park.  There are some beautiful old growth, but the views were well worth it.

After getting into Sunrise road, there was a climb similar to the Powerhouse on Mt. Baker and then it flattened out.  Went over the White River one last time before taking off.

Frying Pan Creek (flows into the White River)

As I started up the 14 mile climb, it felt great.  Gradual 5% average and it was just a nice steady burn in my legs.  After a long steady incline there were a few swooping turns and then a switchback with a view of Rainier in the distance.

For the most part it was sweeping turns with only a few tight switchbacks

Sorry I forgot to zip up before snapping this shot.

Coming up on Sunrise Lodge

View of the Cascades to the north of Rainier

Meadows above the parking lot

Stopped at the first switchback (Sunrise Viewpoint) for a shot

Overall route

As you can imagine, the descent was pretty fun.  I cruised down about 38-40mph.  A benefit of not having too many technical switchbacks was that the main thing I needed to watch for were rocks on the corners and animals (only one chipmunk really freaked me out).  It took 2:40 to get up to the top and 1:20 down.  Such a great day.  Hoping to hit Paradise in the future and definitely adding RAMROD to my bucket list of rides.

Garmin Connect

Strava (both have separate features I like for analysis)