How many places in the country could you live and have an alpine hike an hour from home? Naches Peak Loop is a 3.4 mile trail beginning at Tipsoo Lake next to Chinook Pass. You circle around this towering outcrop with the peak on one side of you and panoramic views of the Cascades and Mt Rainier on the other. Since it is near timberline, you see alpine lakes and high altitude trees sprinkled here and there in the wildflower meadows that surround Naches Peak. Look far into the eastern Cascade slope canyons on the first half of your hike; Mount Rainier glaciers and the western high country on the second.
To get to the trailhead from Enumclaw, park in the first parking lot you come to a go near the back of it, where you will find a large map. The trail starts on your right and goes beside Tipsoo Lake. Taking the loop in a counter-clockwise direction puts the best views of Mt Rainier in front of you toward the latter part of the hike, so begin with a left turn rather than straight at the trailhead. You will climb steeply as you pass the lake and soon come to the footbridge across 410 right at the summit of Chinook Pass. This section overlaps the Pacific Crest Trail, so you could continue on to Mexico or turn around for Canada--or continue your loop. You soon leave the National Park and enter the William O. Douglas wilderness area. When you reach a signed fork, turn right rather than left to Dewey Lake, which you can see below you. Soon Mt Rainier is right in front of you. A downhill through thicker forest brings you back across 410 to you starting point, where you can find rest rooms and picnic tables.
(The road back down from Chinook Pass to Cayuse Pass is quite spectacular in itself, as you might remember from last year.)