Set out on trailhead at Mowich Lake a little before noon. Didn't see any other folks on trail until around Eagle Cliff viewpoint. Views were much better than my last time up here last month when it was overcast. Clear but a reddish haze in the air that someone told me was from wildfires in Oregon (I didn't think the Australia dust storm would have made it all the way up here!) I went past the turnoff to Spray Falls since I was just up there last month, but it is well worth the effort. Spray Falls would be great on a hot day in the summer to cool off. The trail gets steeper and switchbacks after it passes the falls turnoff. The trail is all in forest until the grade lessens and it opens up into some meadows. Hessong Rock is visible to the north. After another moderately steep stretch everything opens up and Spray Park is reached. I soon came to a spur trail that I could see going up the ridge to the north. I decided to take it and after a steep climb I attained a saddle between Hessong Rock and Mt Pleasant. I noted a spur trail going around Hessong Rock that I figured was probably the summit path, but I decided to leave it for another day. Great views of Mt Rainier, Spray Park, Observation Rock, Echo Rock, etc. Some blueberries still on upper trail. Most wildflowers past their peak but Mountain Bog Gentians still noted in meadows. Followed trail back same way. Would like to do loop over Knapsack Pass at some point (trailhead near Ranger cabin next to Mowich Lake). Spray Falls/Park is a great area which I hadn’t been to until this year. Highly recommended.

This is a great way to get to Mt. Rainier without battling the horrendous traffic on the interstates by going down Hwy. 18 and then a series of low-traffic back roads. The 14 mile gravel road to Mowich Lake (guidebooks say 17 miles, but the first few miles are actually paved) is in pretty good shape, though dusty.

Even though there is not a manned park entrance here, you still have to stop and pay your $15 at a lockbox station about 4 miles from the lake.

Once you get to Spray Park proper, the views of Mt. Rainier are stunning. Most wildflowers are past their peak, but there are still a lot in bloom. Some of the late-season bloomers here, like Mountain Bog Gentian, are best seen about now.

There are lots of biting bugs about, and there is no shade at all once you reach Spray Park, so plan accordingly. There is good water available at Grant Creek just past Eagle Roost.

I hiked the trail past Spray Park and up to the foot of the glaciers on the mountain, making for about a 11-12 mile round trip. Highly recommended if you have time.

I posted this Mountaineers trip as the "Mowich Ramble" -- Mowich Lake to Eunice Lake/Tolmie Peak to Mowich Lake to Spray Falls/Spray Park to Mowich Lake -- and held my breath. I offered this same trip last year and had to cancel when only one person signed up. (An official Mountaineers hike must have at least three people.) I was thrilled to see it fill up with four on the waitlist!

The Mowich Lake Road has seen some grading, but it's still full of washboard sections. And plenty dusty. It took us about 90 minutes to drive to the lake from our carpool meeting spot in Federal Way. Two of our group camped at the walk-in campground at Mowich Lake to get an extra hour of sleep.

It was sunny and cool when we hiked out of the trees and arrived at Eunice Lake, then made the steep walk up to the Tolmie Peak Lookout. The Carbon River Valley and the view North was completely clouded over, but the scene South was jaw-dropping -- Eunice Lake, Mowich Lake, Mt. Rainier and even Mt. St. Helens! Spray Falls was also stunning, but the clouds had moved in by the time we hit the second and third meadows of Spray Park. Great wildflowers, and the trails were in great shape -- very few muddy sections given the recent rains. Go soon before the summer ends -- if the gentians are any indication, it's not far off now!

Great conditions for a late summer climb!

Starting out from the Mowich Lake trailhead, my brother and I were able to find the Knapsack Pass trail next to the ranger cabin with only a little difficulty. There was a blowdown right across the start of the trail, obscuring it. While it had been misting down at lower elevations, the trail was dry and in good shape. (We were told that wet conditions can be nasty on the Knapsack Pass trail.) As we gained elevation, the cloud deck lowered so we had sun and moderate temperatures most of the way up. I was pleased to find some avalanche lillies still in bloom on the west side of the pass. Some wild blueberries, too!

Beyond the pass and heading for the main Spray Park trail, there is a lot of independent routefinding to do, picking your way through the boulders. It's definitely easier to get to Spray Park via Knapsack than it would be to head back to Mowich the same way.

From the 6400 foot high point on the Spray Park trail, we found the path heading up towards Observation Rock. The path is clear up to a snowfield at about 6800 feet. Take the snowfield up to nearly 7000 feet, then go up over or around a rocky hill and you will find a sweet campsite with windbreak at the bottom of another snowfield. (Park regulations forbid building new windbreaks or clearing new backcountry campsites, but this one is already in place.) The campsite has a fantastic view towards Echo Rock, The Mountain, and Observation Rock, and a creek running off of the snowfield about 100 feet away. We had started our trip on a Friday just to increase our odds of landing a great spot like this one, perfect!

We set up camp and hung around in the evening, tromping up the little snowfield to take a look at the Flett Glacier and plan our route for the next day. Temps must have dropped to freezing overnight, because the creek had ice on it in the morning, and there were also ice crystals in the dirt in camp. We were glad we had our 15 degree bags!

Our goal for the trip was to climb Observation Rock on Saturday. The front slope of the Flett above camp looked a bit steep and icy to us, but we're just building our skills and it appeared that others went right up it. We elected to instead head cross-country to the west, crossing bounder fields and other arms of the Flett, to ascent to Ptarmigan Ridge. The western end of the Flett has a marvelous 30-foot wide ramp sloping easily up to the Ridge. More rocky travel followed, and we easily found our way up the back side of Observation, all the way to the top! Bluebird conditions, and 360 degree views including looking down on Echo Rock 500 feet lower. We took 2.5 hours from the campsite to the peak via this route.

After lunch on the rock we decided to head down on a somewhat more direct route toward camp, on the Flett along the edge of Echo Rock, down to the point where it became too icy and thin, where we hopped onto the red rocks and went cross-country back to camp to rest and enjoy the evening. 1.5 hours from the summit back to camp. That evening we finally met some other hikers; since leaving Mowich we hadn't met a single person for over 30 hours.

Sunday morning was clear and cool at altitude after another freezing night, and our hike back to Mowich Lake via the main Spray Park trail was a joy! It was sunny throughout Spray Park, the air was cool and just slightly moist, and many of the wildflowers were still in bloom. Best of all, there were no biting bugs that morning! We had such a good time that I'm already keen to go back!