Spray Park, Carbon River, Ipsut Pass

A hearty group of 7 Mountaineers met at Mowich Lake CG at 8;30AM to do the 18 mile loop over Spray Park, down to Carbon River and back up over Ipsut Pass to Mowich. Great to emerge above the clouds on the drive in and see The Mountain in full cloudless sunshine!

The trail to Spray Park was snow-free until about 6000'. Some wildflowers emerging but the glorious shows are still a couple of weeks away. Above 6000' we encountered patches, then 80% snow, then full snow cover. Most of the hikers who have been on the trail so far have obviously been climbers or skiiers, because when we followed the boot path we found ourselves well above the main hikers trail. Easily corrected by one of our group with a GPS, who guided us down the snowfields where we were able to find the trail emerging periodically between the snow patches. Funny, no boot tracks at all along the main trail, though once we worked our way back down we could see some cairns. Be sure to angle downhill as soon as you hit the 6400' mark, and bring a GPS with waypoints if you are going to try this trail in the next week or two!

Snow became patchy again heading down Marmot Creek and Cataract Creek, very soft and some treacherous postholes. Trail not slippery though, and by half mile above Cataract the snow disappeared. Uneventful though a bit monotonous forest walk down to the Carbon River (7.5 mi or midway) where we encountered a sign instructing us to avoid the main trail to the west of the river and cross over the suspension bridge to take a detour down the east side of the river. (Suspension bridge is fun anyway!) Kudos to the rangers for all the new log bridges to cross the many branches of the river at the lower end of the trail! Nice awe-inspiring views upriver to the mountain and the Carbon Glacier - really illustrates the power of water!

From there a flat, forested walk of about 1.5 miles to the junction with Ipsut Pass trail. Then a fairly beastly climb, steady for about 2.8 miles then steeply switching up the headwall. Trail hasn't been brushed out yet and some of the tread is very rocky toward the upper reaches of this section. Ipsut Pass is clear of snow, nice views north though can't see Rainier from there. From there it was a short 1.5 mile walk back to the parking lot, which we reached at 5:50PM, 9 hours - 18.4 miles - 5100 feet total elevation change.

I wouldn't really recommend the loop - lots of elevation change and mileage for what is mostly a forest walk beyond Seattle Park. Just go up to Spray park and back for the best views and wildflowers!