As my last day at Mount Rainier dwindled, and the top of the mountain continued to hide underneath a layer of clouds, I wrestled with deciding which trail deserved my final hiking effort. I could go back to Paradise, or leave the park entirely and seek out a trail in the Glacier View Wilderness. But I decided there wasn’t enough time left in the day for either option. I needed a nearby, and relatively short trail. So, I settled on the Bench and Snow Lakes trail, east of Paradise on the way down Stevens Canyon Road. “Settled”, though, really isn’t […]