Mount Rainier National Park

Saturday, September 2, 2023 - Saturday, September 9, 2023 -- $1700 ★★★★

Topographical Map of Proposed Route

See CalTopo map

Weather

Weather is always an important concern when hiking. Expect daytime hiking temperatures in the 60s and nighttime temperatures in the 40s. However, be prepared for the possibility of overnight temperatures as low as the 20s and daytime temperatures reaching 80. During the 2008 trip, we woke up to several inches of snow on September 1st. By the afternoon however, it had all melted and by September 2nd (the next day) we were swimming in an alpine lake (although not for very long).

View 7 day weather forecast

Probable Trip Leaders

Beau Devlin
Jenifer Smith
Any Other Guide(s) TBD

Difficulty

Mt. Rainier is one of Fatpacking's more difficult, more advanced, and most rewarding trips. The terrain is well groomed and well maintained, although very little of it is level. Most days are spent either ascending or descending thousands of feet, sometimes both. Furthermore, the mountain "makes its own weather" meaning that there could be high winds, rain or even snow at any time. Of course, it could also be sunny and crystal clear. And then there are the blueberries...

Cost

$1700 per person double occupancy. Here, double occupancy means that you will share a room with another participant during the 2 hotel nights. You will also be responsible for transportation to and from Seattle / Sea-Tac (SEA), personal equipment, restaurant meals eaten off the trail and any gratuities for guides.

Covered expenses include 2 hotel nights, 6 days of trail meals, ground transportation, Park entrance fees, National Park permits, GPS, and 2 awesome guides.

Tipping: In order to keep our prices competitive with (and hopefully favorable to) other outfitters, we shamefully can’t pay our guides as much as we think they deserve. Like most other guiding services, we rely on the generosity of our participants to make up this shortfall by tipping the guides. While tips are not required or expected, if your guides have served you well, please consider a gratuity so they can continue living their extravagant lifestyles of eating powdered meals, sleeping in the dirt and pooping in smelly outhouses and small holes they've dug.

Notes

This page shows our proposed route. The actual route will be determined by the Mt Rainier backcountry office sometime in the Spring. We may be awarded a reverse route or a route on another part of the mountain. That said, almost everywhere on Mt Rainier is beautiful.

Although we are allowed a group size of up to 12, the National Park is concerned about campsite crowding impacts and prefers us to have only 6 tents. This means that if our group size exceeds 6, they'd prefer us to start doubling up in tents. We can address this by making sure that each participant's tent is small (one person only) in order to fit into campsite boundaries.

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In 2021, the park relaxed their tenting requirements due to Covid and may continue to do so in 2023. We still officially encouraged to double up even though this forced closeness can be less pleasant, but it does make pack weight lighter and was not a problem at all on the 2015 or 2019 trips. Expect a ranger to check up on the group some time during the trip to make sure we're adhering to Leave No Trace and Park Regulations.

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