Van Trump Park, Mildred Point and Rampart Ridge

September 14 2016
If you have the option to do a car shuttle for not too long of a thru hike, this one really satisfies.

My friend and guidebook author, Craig Romano invited me along on this hike as he recorded the track for Green Trails Maps. Green Trails is the top-selling Topo map company in the Pacific Northwest, and Craig does a lot of trail verifications for them. When Craig is not verifying and recording tracks for Green Trails, or more likely, as he is doing so, he is taking notes about the trails for inclusion in the guidebooks he writes for Mountaineers Books. It is always fun to tag along on Craig's hikes.

The trip consisted of leaving one car at Longmire and driving the other to the Comet Falls Trailhead. We would hike up to Comet Falls and beyond, as far as Van Trump Park. After going as far as possible up Van Trump Park, we would head back down, but instead of going back to the Comet Falls Trailhead, we would veer off onto Rampart Ridge and over to Mildred Point before dropping all the way down Rampart Ridge and out at the Longmire Trailhead. It was right around 13 miles for the total hike. See the map below to see the exact route we took.

This is one of the first views of the mountain you'll get as you hike up to Comet Falls.

You have to envy Craig as he gets to hike for a living. Actually the hiking is the easy part. After all the trails have been surveyed, comes months and months of writing and editing . No rest for the wicked!

Some views begin to open up the closer to the falls you get.

Comet Falls

We continued past the falls on our way up to the top of Van Trump Park. This is the view when you turn around. You can see Mt Saint Helens in the distance from here.

Views really begin to open up towards the top of Van Trump Park

A quick timelapse from Van Trump Park.

Mt Saint Helens in the distance. Nisqually River drainage below.

Great views from up here. I believe this is a view of Pyramid Peak.

Don't fall in here as you won't go far before this water flows over Comet Falls.

The view just before we got to the Mildred Point Trail.

The views open up again near Mildred Point.

The view from Mildred Point is spectacular. If you look close you can see a large waterfall just left of center. The drainage is Kautz Creek and feeds off of the Kautz Glacier.

Craig Romano taking in the view at Mildred Point.

Mildred Point view

We were hearing a helicopter off and on all day. Then we finally spotted it. A large Chinook helicopter possibly searching for someone or doing training exercises.

Close-up of the arch. I wonder how many people have been to this arch? Almost looks like it could be a destination itself with that waterfall behind it. I'm guessing it would be fairly difficult to get to since there is no trail to it.

Nice meadow hiking with views of Mt Adams on the way down.

Craig is always good to take it slow and stop to smell the flowers occasionally.

An opening and a view before descending into the trees for the final stretch to Longmire.

You'll see some of the infrastructure at Longmire on the way down. This actually might be part of the Cougar Rock Campground now that I think of it. I'm not entirely certain.

The trail widens considerably the closer you get to Longmire.

One last view of the Mountain as viewed from the south side of the Longmire Springs Meadow.

Driving directions to Comet Falls Trailhead (taken from WTA's website)
Enter the park from the west entrance to Mount Rainier National Park, 13.5 miles east of Elbe on State Route 706. Drive 10.2 miles to the Comet Falls Trailhead parking lot on the left.

From the east entrance, or within the park, travel west five miles from the junction of Paradise Road and Stevens Canyon Road, to the parking lot a quarter mile past the Christine Falls Viewpoint. There is parking for 16 automobiles and a few motorcycles, but no trailhead amenities.