Mount Teneriffe
This weekend I took a long-ish hike up Mount Teneriffe before dawn in search of some nice sunrise photography opportunities. I hiked up Mount Teneriffe the weekend before using the Kamikaze Trail route, so I had a pretty good idea what was in store for me. I opted for the longer Mount Teneriffe Trail approach this time because I wasn’t entirely comfortable tackling Kamikaze Trail in the dark.
I arrived at the old “School Bus Turnaround” trailhead at 4:25am. Do note that the old trailhead is not available for parking on school days, and I highly suggest trying to park at the newer trailhead when possible. The new trailhead doesn’t open the gates until 7am, so it didn’t work for my purposes.
The trail pre-dawn
The hike up was easy going and uneventful. Snow started covering the trail in earnest at around 3,500ft. I used microspikes for additional traction, but I made it to the top without snowshoes. The bootpack mostly prevented postholing. I based my expected summit time on last week’s climb up Kamikaze Trail, but the additional length of the route I chose took longer then I anticipated. I still made it to the top before sunrise, but I really wanted to see Mount Rainier in the blue hour. I was still able to get a few decent pictures nonetheless.
Mount Rainier at dawn
A panorama of the Olympics in the distance
Fog moving through the trees
I spent almost two hours enjoying the sunrise to myself before starting my descent. By the time I got back to my car, both trailhead parking lots were full.
Having taken both Kamikaze and Mount Teneriffe trails, my preferred route for the future will be to take Kamikaze Trail up and Mount Teneriffe Trail down. Kamikaze Trail was definitely tougher, but I appreciate the shorter distance. My knees and toes did not appreciate descending Kamikaze though.