Wanting to avoid the continual road construction on Highway 410 and inspired by all those early morning trip reports from LittleAngelsMollie I met my sidekick Jeno in Maple Valley at 3:30 this morning and we headed down to the NW corner of Mt Rainier to hike up to Spray Park.    As others have mentioned the bridge over the Carbon River now has a traffic light to regulate the cars going over it.  On the way up it was so early we had no wait and on the way  down the wait was maybe 2 minutes max.

I timed us this morning going up the long dirt road to Mowich Lake and it took us 40 minutes on the way up and about 35 minutes on the way down.  The road is in pretty good shape, some wash boarding in places but the potholes were minimal and some really smooth spots where you could actually get above 30 MPH like 32 MPH!

There were about 40-50 cars parked when we got up there a little before 5:00 AM but we were able to secure a parking spot not too far from the campground.  The bathrooms were clean and stocked and some of the best we've seen this summer.  I don't know if it was hiking in the dark via headlamp or what but both Jeno and I commented it seemed like there was more downhill hiking out to Spray Falls then we remember from our past trips on this trail.  As we hiked along my buddy said we might be able to get up to Spray Park at sunrise so we pushed a little bit heading up the switchbacks above Spray Falls and although we were up there in time for sunrise the trees obscured our view so we had to settle for seeing Mt Rainier a few minutes after sunrise.  

We were not too far into Spray Park and I  was about 10 yards in front of Jeno when I turned a corner in  the trail and less than 10' away (it was dang close) I see this big face staring at me.  A young Black Bear albeit brownish in color.  We stared at each other for a second and I hollered to Jeno "Bear!"  As soon as I said that he took off into the bushes.  We could hear him crashing around and waited for a bit and he popped out and went back to eating which is what he was doing when I came face to face with him.  He was between 20-30 yards away from us the whole time but after the initial shock of seeing me and I him he didn't pay any attention to us and continued to eat.  We said goodbye to Yogi and continued on our way as the views opened up.  A lot of the flowers especially Lupine are at the prime right now in our opinion.        We continued up the trail running into a couple of hard snow/ice patches the higher we went.  We finally decided to stop as we climbed into the rocks and made that our turn around point for the day.

We had a commanding view from where we stopped and my eagle eyed friend could see Mt Baker and Glacier Peak to the north and downtown Seattle to the west.   We started back down hoping to see the bear again but he was long gone.   We didn't see our first hikers until we were almost back at the junction with Spray Falls.  Speaking of which we made the worthwhile side trip out to the falls on our way back and it was really flowing this morning.   We also stopped at Eagle Cliff viewpoint another worthwhile stopping point on the trail (see the photo) and talked to a couple who were lugging their skis up to Spray Park to go glacier skiing.  Heading back to Mowich Lake we encountered a steady stream of hikers ultimately seeing 65 people total.  About 12-15 were Wonderland Trail hikers, 6 were skiers (3 pairs), 1 trail runner doing the loop down to Carbon River and up Ipsut Pass and the rest were day hikers.   We were back at the very full parking lot by 9:30.     

There were so many cars coming up the road to the parking lot that once we cleared it we counted those as well and we saw 41 in total between 9:30 and 10:10 when we were back down on Highway 165.

Temps were not too bad with how early we were on the trail.  And a big plus was most of the hike for us was in the shade this morning.   I'd hate to be out in those open meadows this afternoon with all the heat we are getting today and tomorrow.      Like every other hike this summer the bugs were terrible.   Jeno commented "don't they sleep" as they were all over us the moment we stepped out of the car at 5:00 AM.  Needless to say we had multiple applications of bug spray this morning.

Stay safe everyone.  See you on the trail!

SR

Addendum: I added a video of Yogi. 

The trail has more shade than described here. Up until spray park, you are shaded the entire way.  The bugs were pretty bad.  Lots of flies and bees, but not too many mosquitoes (I hiked from 10-2).  I just used my buff as whip (like a horses tail) and was okay.  

it was still worth it.  The best view of Rainier with a meadow.  We saw a brown-colored black bear with her cub by our car in the parking lot.  Just a reminder to make sure you lock your doors and close your windows.  

Occasional potholes, rocks to dodge, and washboarding on the gravel road up to Mowich Lake, but can be navigated by any car going the right speed.

The trail itself is in good condition. There is one short (10’ long) patch of mud on the trail before you enter into Spray Park that you can walk through if you don’t mind getting your shoes a bit muddy. All snow is gone.

Wildflowers are still quite nice. All types and colors; lupine, paintbrush, heather, valerian, and lots I don’t know. Even saw quite a few avalanche lilly still in bloom. The abundant pollinating bees were happily going about doing their thing.

Bugs were a bit of an annoyance once getting into Spray Park, buzzing around and occasionally landing on me, but they didn’t seem to be on a feeding frenzy. I eventually broke down and used bug spray because I had it, which helped make the day more pleasant.

The air temperature was perfect with an occasional breeze that came through. Much better to be here on a hot day like today than the city! 

There were quite a few people on the trail today. I would guess I saw about 60 others throughout the day, mostly day hikers enjoying the flowers in Spray Park.

No wildlife sighted today, but heard from another hiker that a mother bear and cubs were spotted off trail about a mile down the trail from Mowich Lake. 

This is one of our favorite hikes in the summer and avalanche lilies against the backdrop of majestic Rainier is the biggest draw. 

It's a longish drive from Seattle not because of distance but because most of it is on single lane highways, road constructions and last 15 or so miles on the forest service road which is totally passable but rough and dust kicked up from other cars makes visibility as low as few feet at times. This stretch is probably much harder for sedans than SUVs and trucks. We got to Mowich Lake trailhead at 9am and were concerned about the crowded trail since cars were parked up to half mile from the TH. However, Spray Park trail was not crowded at all and while we saw several individuals and small groups, they were few and far between.

The trail is well maintained and great shape and suitable for hikers of all abilities. The mountain was playing hide and seek due to passing clouds and we did not get the usual glorious glimpse from eagle roost viewpoint that we are used to but believe me it is there and when visible its jaw dropping good. Further up we skipped the side trail to Spray Falls to do later and head upwards towards Spray Park. This is the only somewhat harder section of the trails that takes you up all the way to meadows with few switchbacks. The trail is narrow and rocky in few places but nothing serious. Once you get into the meadow you start seeing the wildflowers and the mountain on the right.

Fortunately there was a slight breeze most of the way that kept the bugs away otherwise they are terrible this time of the year. The wildflowers were out in abundance - lupines, Indian paint brush, aster, penstemon, shooting stars and further up my favorite avalanche lilies. Sight of meadows full of wildflowers is so uplifting and never gets old no matter how often you have seen them. You can spend all day wandering around these meadows, enjoying the flowers and the glorious view of the mountain. There are plenty of spots to enjoy lunch while soaking in the beauty of nature. We went further up and crossed a couple of snow patches to get to the top where trail turns right towards Rainier and called it a day. You can go further and loop all the way to Mowich Lake (I believe it is about 18-mile loop).

On the way back we did take the side trail to Spray Fall which is a worthwhile destination. Please be careful when negotiating the rocks here as they can be slippery and a fall could be dangerous. Some people were crossing the water channel to go across for a better view and pictures, it is doable but calls for lots of caution.

If you go pack some patience for a dusty and bumpy last 15 miles, bring plenty of bug spray and sunblock and water though there are plenty of places to fill your water bottles if you have a steri-pen and or iodine tabs to purify it. And do bring a camera, the views and flowers are intoxicating.

Fantastic hike, trail was in great condition. Spray park seems to be a well kept secret as far as wildflowers and wet meadows in the park, but it really is special! highly recommend S a day hike, and especially recommend if you're lucky enough to get backpacking permits!