Directions:From Puyallup drive 13 miles east on Highway 410 to Buckley. Turn right (south) onto Highway 165. Proceed to the bridge over the Carbon River Gorge and then bear left to Mount Rainier National Parks Carbon River entrance. Proceed five miles to the trailhead at the roads end at Ipsut Creek Campground.

Trail Notes: This hike starts off easy enough following the Carbon Glacier trail for the first hour or so. This first hour is spent traveling along the Carbon River through old growth forest. The views during the first hour aren’t anything spectacular but the quiet of the trees is something nice in and of itself. Of the hikes in Mt. Rainier this is the most like the Hoh Rainforest in terms of the overall ambiance.

There are essentially two ways to Windy Gap from the Ipsut ranger station - across the lower footbridge or taking the suspension bridge a bit further up the valley. Taking the suspension bridge is really fun (if you like that kind of thing) but adds an additional 30-45 minutes each way. Going this way may be required if the foot bridge is washed out as it commonly is. If you are required to travel over the suspension bridge your first stop along the way is likely to be the crossing of Catarack Creek. On a warm summer day the cooler temperatures of this foot log crossing are just wonderful. This is also probably the best place to fill up water bottles if they aren't already topped off since the Carbon itself is quite silty and there isn't any real sources of water until reaching Windy Gap proper. Once you are across the suspension bridge backtrack down the valley about another 20 minutes or so.

Taking the lower crossing is preferred and is the way we went on this warm sunny day. Reaching the other side of Carbon river the cool trees both thick and undisturbed by the sun were a welcome site. How come? It was already about 75 degrees and it was only 9am! The welcome was short lived as the trail takes on a wicked demeanor working it's way through a series of 30-40 switchbacks. These switchbacks are some of the most difficult I have encountered on established trails. It all depends on the steepness you are used to. I would put these in the Granite Mountain, McClellan Butte category and then some. Anyway I was content to be in the shade. There isn't anything particularly cool about these switchbacks and they last for about 2 hours. You will know you are getting close to the top when the vegetation starts thinning out.

I had a couple sensations of nearing the top when I encountered some clearings along the way. Alas such wasn't the case - another half hour to go. You will be near the top when emerging from the forest and the YellowStone Cliffs are in site to the NorthEast. If you have exhausted your water there is a campsite to the SE, clearly signed from the trail which has running water (stream). Alternatively, there is also water in run off pools only about another 30-40 minutes ahead too. We chose to go for the later.

Now things are getting interesting. The scenery is changing to the glacier meadows that are flush with the color of all mountain plants. Absolutely wonderful! After emerging from the forest the trail moderates a bit and reasonably yields Windy Gap. The views during this time are pretty neat, though there is no view of Mt. Rainer to speak of. Arriving at the pools marks the saddle of Windy Gap. We made it! This is where we had lunch and filled up on water. (Bring a water filter or at least 3 liters of water - I went through 5 liters this day)

About halfway through lunch we heard this weird sound come out of nowhere. Then we saw it a chopper - someone must be lost. We ate the rest of our lunch and took of on our way to the Natural bridge past Windy Gap. About five minutes after leaving the pools we saw it - a chopper just sitting there with a couple official looking people. How bizarre! In speaking with them we learned there was a forest fire that had been burning for some time that had now gained some renewed vigor. They weren't here to fight the fire, just observe it. After being given assurances that we were 'probably' safe we continued on.

The spur to the Natural Bridge is only about 5-10 minutes from the saddle. If you find yourself going down hill for long you have probably missed it - though if you let it go too long you will eventually wind up at Lake James. Having taken the spur it is about 30 minutes or so to the lookout overlooking the Natural Bridge and surrounding lakes and hills. In our case we also got to see a forest fire up pretty close too. As the fire spread from tree to tree you could hear them go 'crack' as the trunks popped from the heat. Man, glad it was on the other side of the valley. I digress.

The natural bridge is pretty nice and there is some indication one can climb out on it. I didn't feel comfortable doing so, a fall would no doubt be fatal. The angle of the bridge compared to the outlook leaves a bit to be desired from a photographic standpoint; as you can see from the pictures. I would advise rather than making your way to the natural bridge to instead work your way up to Tyee peak (above the Yellowstone Cliffs) from the spur leaving Windy gap just before the pools of water (about 20 minutes after leaving the trees). You will see the turn off it is pretty clearly trampled.

After having some water etc. we returned finding the helicopter gone. We worked down to the spur to Tyee Peak (as outlined above) and took off making our way only as far as the saddle between Tyee Peak and Independence Ridge. It was getting late so without much ado we made our way back down to Ipsut.

Overall, Windy Gap is really a gem of a hike offering some decent solitude, and some awesome scenery. Parting advice: leave early especially if it is going to be a hot day, bring more water than you think you would use, bring a water filter if you can since it will lighten your load, bring a sun hat since once you break out of the trees you will be exposed until returning to them, and bring a flashlight to ensure you can make your way out if you are delayed by the side attractions which are many.