Alpine Scramble - McClure Rock and The Sugarloaf

There is now a good boot path up to McClure Rock from the Skyline trail, and about a dozen Paradise visitors had reached the summit; it would be a stretch to call it a scramble via that route. However, it was interesting and fun exploring a safe route to the summit of The Sugarloaf after leaving McClure.  My two Mountaineer adventure partners and I searched for a low risk way up at the south end of the Loaf, but it was all loose rocks (some quite large) mixed with scree, and decided to back down and wrap around to the north. After traversing a moderate snow patch, we found a safer scramble route directly to the highest point. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the summit and were visited briefly by a pika, marmot, and one other human.

We left the summit around noon and took the Skyline and Golden Gate trails back to Paradise. I would highly discourage Mountaineers from scheduling trips in that area on weekends this summer. The Skyline trail was not pleasant due to overcrowding. People are also walking off trail, sitting in the flowers, and we even passed a party having a barbeque right next to the trail (illegal)! There are few Rangers available now and even fewer volunteer Rovers, with only 3 on duty that day. I have been a volunteer at Paradise for five years and have seen meadow damage worsen due to increased numbers of visitors and decreased enforcement. The current conditions border on tragic.

As we descended the Golden Gate trail, we could see the line of cars parked all along the road past 4th Crossing and beyond. We had found few parking spots in the lower lot in the morning around 6:30 and were glad we got an early start. We talked with a Law Enforcement officer in the lot upon our return at 2:30. He told us that Paradise had been closed earlier for 2 hours due to the massive number of vehicles parking illegally along the road up to Paradise. Citations were being issued. On our drive down, we passed that shocking number of cars parked along the road for miles, and had to go slowly due to people walking on the road or suddenly appearing from between cars. Some vehicles had squeezed into small spaces and were partly sticking out in the road. We were told that weekends are the worst time with Saturdays being by far the worst. We were also told that at one point during the day, the line-up of cars at the Nisqually entrance was backed up to the town of Ashford. As we drove out of the Park at about 3:30, the line to enter was one mile long and cars were still being allowed up to Paradise with no legal or safe place to park. A rather sad ending to a great day with my Mountaineer friends.