Summerland Trail: The Hike That Started My Addiction
Trail Stats
Location: Mount Rainier National Park, WA
Distance: ~8.5 miles round trip
Elevation Gain: ~2,500 feet
Highest Point: ~6,400 ft
Difficulty: Moderate
Best Season: July–September
Some hikes you do for fun.
Some hikes you do for the views.
And then there are the hikes that quietly — and permanently — change you.
For me, that hike was Summerland.
The Start: Optimism & Group Chaos
We hit the trail with five people, high spirits, and zero understanding of what this day was about to become.
Not too far in, three people in our group stopped to rest… without telling us.
We kept hiking, blissfully unaware, until I had that sinking feeling: Wait… where did everyone go?
So I ran back down the trail to find them.
They had decided they were done for the day.
No drama. No hard feelings. Just a quiet surrender to the mountain.
I handed them the car keys so they could head back to the lot, leaving just me and one other hiker to continue the climb.
And honestly?
That’s when the real hike began.
The Climb: When the Mountain Tests You
As we pushed higher, the trail grew steeper, the air thinner, and the switchbacks more unforgiving.
Near the top, with the summit finally in sight, my remaining hiking partner nearly puked — we’re pretty sure from mild elevation sickness. We paused, breathed, laughed about it later, and kept moving.
Because the mountain was calling… and we weren’t turning around now.
The Reward: Where Addiction Begins
Then we crested the trail.
And there it was.
Mount Rainier, massive and glowing.
Fields of wildflowers spilling across the landscape.
Marmots popping up like tiny guardians of the alpine.
The world felt enormous and quiet and perfect all at once.
Every ounce of effort suddenly made sense.
The Aftermath: A New Version of Me
That hike didn’t just give me views.
It gave me something deeper:
Confidence.
Curiosity.
And an unshakable craving for what’s beyond the next trailhead.
I came down that mountain absolutely hooked — already planning the next hike, and the one after that, and the one after that.
Summerland didn’t just start my hiking journey.
It started an addiction to mountains, movement, and the version of myself I meet out there.
And I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.
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