TH starts at Mowich "campground" that looks like a parking lot, it's missing everything I appreciate about a campground. Trail starts descending into forest for a mile or two (?) where you encounter steps, lots of steps, up and down, along the trail. Eventually you arrive at Spray Falls with a log bridge for crossing. We chose to take the other route that climbs steeply over a number of switchbacks of rocky trail. You'll definitely do a bit of sweating but so worth the effort. The descent through this section is best done with poles to help save old hikers with original knees.  Arriving at the "top" there are meadows in all directions with the last of the wildflowers, mostly asters and a dark blue flower I've never seen before. We found a large rock formation to rest and eat. The clouds were dancing across the peaks and hiding Tahoma from view. The sun peaked out momentarily but we soaked in the beauty of the meadows despite the clouds. Met a number of hikers passing through. A solo hiker who had 5 days on trail and was ready to call it a day. Another solo hiker was just starting a 96-mile trek who looked to be just about as old, both knees double-taped and wrapped. Chatted with 3 young women on day 3 of a 6-day figure 8 route. Lots of happy hikers passing through from multiple locations. This is a beautiful hike, put it on your list. Tracked 8.2 miles RT with 2,300' EG. Just as we arrived back to the Mowich "campground" it started to rain. The "campground" was wall-to-wall tents of participants for a running event scheduled at this location. We really appreciated getting into a warm and dry truck as lots of campers huddled in their tents to stay dry.   

  Our destination today was Knapsack Pass over to Spray Park out of the Mowich Lake trailhead. The route we chose would not be recommended for inexperienced hikers.  My hiking group met at 8:30 in Wilkeson at the parking lot in the middle of town.  We were surprised to find the public restroom open, clean and stocked with supplies.  It had been closed all of last summer. After driving the 15+ miles of washboard road we arrived at the Mowich parking area just before 10:00AM and snagged a couple spots just North of the straight in parking stalls on the right side of the road.   Cars were parked for about 1/3 mile back from overnight camping or backpacking.  The sky was clear blue and it was in the 58 degrees with a nice breeze when we started hiking..  The vault toilet facility was being cleaned by NPS staff and had a line up of 8 hikers.  We decided to skip that and use the Green Door further up the trail.

     Following the trail on the south shore of Mowich Lake we headed up the unmaintained trail to Knapsack Pass.  The trail has several narrow spots, few switchbacks, many challenging step up situations.  Most of the wildflowers are past their prime except Gentian that was popping up everywhere. Once over Knapsack Pass a few lupine, magenta paintbrush and lousewort were still looking good and Monkey Pod was in full bloom along stream crossings and water ponds. Blueberries and blue huckleberries were  ripening everywhere. We only meet 2 other hikers until with reconnected with the Wonderland Trail at the eastern edge of Spray Park.  Several folks from UW were in the meadows doing wildflower studies and we passed about 10 other groups of day hikers and backpackers completing the Wonderland Loop.    We were hoping to see wildlife but only saw clumps of mountain goat fur on both sides of Knapsack Pass and going up toward Mt. Pleasant, plus a few chipmunks and bird species.   After descending the pass and negotiating the loose scree slope followed by the large boulder field we took a much deserved rest a lunch / rest break on a huge rocky outcropping with a 360 degree territorial view of Seattle Park and Mt. Rainier.  Initially we followed an All Trails App for what was touted as a 6 mile loop hike.  Once on the side of Mt. Pleasant and looking at the terrain we decided to back track about 1/3 mile and take a longer but easier trail down to the Wonderland Trail. We arrived back to our vehicles just after 5:00PM completing a 9 mile loop.  Hikers and backpackers were still heading out on the trail at that time.  Another fantastic day to be out in nature with friends.

This was an awesome hike! There was plenty of parking around Mowich Lake and while there were quite a few people, everyone followed great trail etiquette and it wasn't as busy as I would have expected for the first smoke-free day in some time. My 69-year-old mom rocked it and it was beautiful! There were a number of mosquitos and bugs at our lunch spot which left me with a few itchy welts, but definitely not the worst!

(I hope to link images, but struggling with getting the iPhone photos on here!)

When we got to the parking lot around 10:30, cars were lined all down the road, way past the Tolmie Peak trailhead. We ended up about .6 miles from the Spray Falls trailhead, but at least a lot of that we were able to walk along Mowich Lake. Despite the cars, the trail to Spray Falls wasn't too crowded. At the falls, we crossed a wobbly bundle of logs to get across the stream, where we could have a better view of the falls.

Despite being a hot day, most of the hike is in the shade, so it was still pleasant. We topped it off with a foot soak in Mowich Lake. On the southeast corner, just north of the campground, was a shallow spot with wonderfully soft sand. People were floating on paddleboards out on the lake, and it was nice and peaceful.

Hiked up to Tolmie Peak for sunrise and then met up with a friend to check out Spray Park. Tolmie peak was smokey. Way smokey. My lungs probably don't look as bad as that cabin air filter you didn't know you had but it definitely felt like breathing in a campfire.

Completely different story once down and on to Spray Park, where it was blue skies, clean air, and plenty of heat exhaustion to go around. Lots of wildflowers blooming, although it's my first time there so I can't say how far past peak it is or isn't. Was definitely pretty, was definitely bright, and those two pieces of bread on my floorboard definitely turned to dry toast.

As for the road... I was hesitant to bring my good car because I heard the road was rough. It really isn't THAT bad, don't let it keep you from going. If you're a normal person with an unmodified car, it's just a little choppy and you'll want to slow down a bit, but nothing to worry about. There is a bit of a drop-off on the passenger side on one corner on the way up, but if you go up when it's dark like you should be when it's going to be 90 degrees outside, there's nothing to see. It's like that curtain in the department of mysteries, just don't follow Sirius into that dark oblivion and everything will be fine. 

If you're a car person that likes to void warranties, it's probably still fine. Ground clearance isn't an issue unless you're legitimately slammed, there's bigger potholes in downtown Tacoma. It's just washboard. 15 miles of endless washboard. More annoying than anything. It'll be slow going with low profile tires and stiff suspension but you don't need to bring a spare oil pan or anything.

Oh yeah, bugs. Lots of bugs. Bugs are annoying.