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Mount Rainier - Hiking to Camp Muir

I was just a teen during my first trip to Camp Muir. I wasn't even old enough to drive so my dad dropped me, my brother Kevin and Steve Z. off at Paradise (picture to the right). We had school that day so it was a late afternoon Friday climb. We didn't get there until mid-night. Few hikes have ever been so exciting for me since. Camp Muir can be accessed by any hiker with a determination to get there. In spring and summer, there is a cattle trail of footprints up the Muir Snowfield leading the way. In winter, the route can be life threatening with the constant wind and ice covered snow. Traction from snowshoes or crampons is usually necessary in winter. This page has pictures from my Muir visits before I started climbing beyond the 10,000 foot camp.
Mount Rainier
In summer you can take trails from Paradise up to Panorama Point and on to Pebble Creek. The Muir Snowfield begins shortly afterward. Just keep pushing upward for 2,500 feet. If weather is bad, print the compass bearing map (link at bottom of page). The tendency in cloud cover on the snowfield is to drop straight downhill but if you don't slowly traverse, you will end up on the Nisqually Glacier. A side trip to Anvil Rock is always fun, with a great view down to the Cowletz Glacier. If you have any energy at Muir, climb the rocks east of the camp. This highpoint just a hundred feet or so above the camp is dubbed Muir Peak.
The Route:
paradise parking lot Anvil Rock Cowlitz Glacier Muir Snowfield Muir Snowfield south from Camp Muir Nisqually Valley Guide Huts Camp Muir huts Camp Muir Mt. St. Helens snowfield on rainier Gibraltar Rock Pebble Creek snowfield on rainier panorama point Cowlitz from Muir Peak Mount Adams Tatoosh Range Mount Rainier muir snow field Little Tahoma muir snow field East of Little Tahoma View from Muir Peak
Link to a compass bearing map to get to Camp Muir
Link for a topo map to Camp Muir
Other Resources on WillhiteWeb
Excited for our first trip to Camp Muir
On top of Anvil Rock
A lot of this view as you hike the Muir Snowfield
Climbers practicing on the Cowlitz Glacier on the north side of Muir
Little Tahoma
East of Little Tahoma
Looking south down the Muir Snowfield
On the route to Camp Muir
Looking south over the Tatoosh Range to the Goat Rocks and Mount Adams
Mount Adams
The route above Pebble Creek in the winter
Looking down on the Cowlitz from Muir Peak
Route to Camp Muir in late season
Pebble Creek area in late season
First views of Camp Muir
Camp Muir Guide Hut
Looking SW with Mt. St. Helens on the horizon
Gibraltar Rock
Looking down on Camp Muir from Muir Peak
Getting close to Camp Muir
Guide Huts
Looking down the Nisqually Valley
The view south from Camp Muir
Lone hiker on the Muir Snowfield