I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for almost 10 years but have only been to Mount Rainier National Park twice since moving to Portland. Since I started backpacking in 2014, I’ve dreamed of hiking the Wonderland Trail, which circumnavigates the massive 14,411-foot glaciated volcano in 93 impressive miles. With limited time to take off from work, though, we decided we’d try for permits to backpack the Northern Loop, a 33-mile loop with about 11,000 feet of elevation gain that follows 17.5 or so miles of the Wonderland Trail (from close to Sunrise to the Carbon River) and the 15.5 mile Northern Loop Trail. Now that I’ve had a taste of the Wonderland Trail, it’s high on my list to complete the entire loop (and maybe we’ll have more views next time!).