Glacier Basin: Our First Backpacking Trip with Baby

We picked the perfect spot for Peanut’s first backpacking trip: Glacier Basin in Mount Rainier National Park.

The wildflowers were stunning, the weather was beautiful, and the trail not too strenuous.

The hike, which starts at the White River Campground, is 6.5 miles roundtrip with 1,600 feet of elevation gain.

The climb is steady and gradual, and there are peekaboo views of the mountain periodically on the way.

The trail ends at Glacier Basin Camp, which consists of five very nice tent sites nestled in the trees (including one group site). Just beyond the “campground” you can explore the basin itself.

We cooked our meals and ate on the rocks in the mostly dry creek bed, just to soak in the views.

We even saw a mama bear and her cub grazing on the hillside! (Too far away for good any good pictures, which was just fine with me given that we were camped nearby.)

If you continue farther into the basin, you can follow the climbers’ trail up to Camp Schurman. We ran into several groups of climbers making their way up and back from the summit, including one pair that camped along side us before heading up.

It may be a few years before we’re ready to make a summit push, but we sure had fun exploring this beautiful place.