A perk about winter adventures in Mount Rainier National Park is the Longmire gate doesn't open until 9am. That means unless you're doing a low-elevation hike, there's no sense in getting up stupid early. (The anti-perk is sometimes the gate doesn't open at all!) We rolled into Longmire right at 9am and joined the line heading up the road toward Paradise.

But while just about every other car was looking for the easy views of Tahoma, we opted for a more subtle adventure that would keep us away from the crowds and make us work for the views. The Van Trump Trail was perfect.

The first section was mixed snow and dirt, but quickly became 100% snow covered. A mile in, we put on snowshoes and were scolded by a pika for waiting so long. (That's right, the pika was out and as vocal as ever. Not really that surprising since we know they don't hibernate and they're not exactly shy.)

The first landmark was Comet Falls. I'd never been on the trail before so I didn't know what to expect. We could hear a big waterfall off the trail, but there was no decent view of it so I figured that wasn't it. We came around a corner and were presented with a beautiful two-stage waterfall. I mean, I guess that's a nice waterfall. Twin Falls is nicer. Oh well, at least the Mountain would be glorious.

Climbing the next little hill and OH MY GOSH THAT'S COMET FALLS! Forget that little waterfall and Twin Falls. Comet Falls was massive. It's almost 400 feet high with at least four distinct tiers. The main was a straight fall of 300 feet. The height allowed a fine mist to appear and with the morning sun streaming in from behind us we got a nice little rainbow across the cliff face.

Of course, while waterfalls are great and all, the main reason for any trip down this way is to see Tahoma herself. The trail switchbacked up, disappeared under the snow, became apparent again, and finally gave us the view I was looking for.

The Mountain was definitely out, but wearing a lenticular that hid the summit. I tried for a timelapse that drifted and never quite focused so you'll have to trust that watching the cloud form on the west side of the summit and disappear on the east was mesmerizing.

Oh, wait. What time is it? Dang. Remember how the gate doesn't open until 9am? If it has to open, that means it must close at some time before that, right? I was not about to get stuck on the wrong side of the gate so we headed back the way we'd come.

It's good we headed back when we did because although the snow up in Van Trump Park was plenty firm, the sun had softened it significantly in the areas below. We saw plenty of evidence of past avalanches, but there we saw no instability other than some isolated collapses around our snowshoes.

We saw a grand total of two other people the entire time we were out and both of them stopped at Comet Falls. It just goes to show that if you want to find quiet even in a place as busy as Mount Rainier National Park, you can do it. It just won't be as easy as driving to Paradise.

📍On the lands of the dxʷsqʷaliʔabš (Nisqually) people.