I made it up the road in my low-clearance Mazda in an hour, going slower than I probably needed to. There were plenty of cars at the Tolmie Peak trailhead when I passed at 8:15 but I didn't see anyone on the Spray Park trail for a good hour. A surprising number of the people I passed after that were not very friendly or didn't seem to know trail etiquette, as the last trip report says. Bugs were almost non-existent, never bad enough to break out the deet, and I got a few handfuls of ripe berries. The parking lot was a zoo when I got back around 1:30 - lots of boaters and swimmers in addition to the hikers. Spray Park itself was nearly empty, and beautiful. 

Overnight backpack with campsite at Ipsut Creek in CCW direction. While I have done this road in a sedan, I highly highly recommend a high clearance vehicle. It was a much better experience this time around. I echo other reports that mention seeing people with tire problems parked alongside the road (on the way down on Sunday at least).

First, I must warn that we clocked in almost 15 miles on trail to Ipsut Creek Campground on the first day when we expected to do closer to 11.5 miles. We did do the short spur trail to Spray Falls (0.1 miles one way) and didn’t get lost along the Carbon River riverbed much to account for the extra distance. I think the discrepancy in distance is due to a washout along the trail between Ipsut and Carbon River CGs. The Mount Rainier Wilderness Planner PDF puts the distance between the two CGs at about 3.5 miles if you stay along the south side of Carbon River, but the trail has since been rerouted so that you end up crossing Carbon River back and forth along a (really cool!!) suspension bridge and multiple log bridges. I think there were about 8 bridges in that section? We approached a sign on the north side of Carbon River (intersection of Northern Loop and Wonderland Trail) that said Ipsut camp was almost 6 miles away. We were definitely “stumbling into camp” that night because we have never backpacked almost 15 miles before (I am more of like an ~8-10 mile backpacking sorta person but I have backpacked the Enchantments before, so I don’t shy away from a more challenging day).

Second, thank you to the previous trip reports that warned the area around Spray Falls would be the last water source for the appx 5 mile stretch between the climb up to Spray Park until the descent into Cataract Valley. It was hot and clockwise-hiking people definitely asked us about the last water source we saw. We were fortunate to have budgeted enough water as a result.

Highlights of the day included Spray Falls, Spray Park (gorgeous!!),the suspension bridge, bear boxes at camp, so many waterfalls, and all-around good people on trail Saturday. I agree that the trail started to thin out after Spray Park. The friendliest people on trail were the backpackers (with a few exceptions in either direction 😅) for sure.  

Hope those two semi-lost backpacking guys (Willow?) who were on the Northern Loop trail made it to camp just fine.

Aside: some of the signs from Ipsut to Carbon Glacier do not account for the extra mileage back and forth along the river. We passed some European accent guy (French? German?) around 6:30pm who asked us how far the glacier was and he was not amused when we said like 6 miles (when the sign at camp said 4… but was probably an old sign referring to the old route along the south side of Carbon River). 

All in all, it was about 7.5 hours for about 15 miles with packs (not including lunch and snacks and water filtering breaks). Lovely, LONG walk but the time in camp was refreshing. If you’ve never used your telescoping trekking pole as a muscle roller, remember this tip for a day you may need to. 🙃 Overall, longer than I bargained for but not bad!

Second day was a 3-mile moderate climb and 1-mile more steep climb up Ipsut Pass (then 1.6 miles to Eunice/Tolmie TH and maybe a mile around the lake back to the Spray Falls TH). People made the climb out sound worse than it was, but I recognize I’m saying this after resting up at camp. I would NOT want to blast straight into the uphill section after a day like the last. Like most mountain passes, there isn’t a ton of water sources (mainly rocks and brush). It was definitely easier than Aasgard Pass and a little easier than Hidden Lake Lookout for example. MVP on that section was the clouds rolling in during the most exposed part of the climb and the sour gummies I saved for a morale boost. Wildflowers are past their prime but some remain.

Capped off the day with some lunch-type snacks and a dip in Mowich Lake. What a lovely way to end that climb out of the valley!! Overall it was about 7 miles from Ipsut CG to Mowich CG and took us about 3h. Keep in mind Ipsut CG is about 1/4 mile ofd trail. I think the loop would be almost 21 miles without the campground detour.

Highlights on the second day were the mushrooms galore, the moss kingdom during the moderate climb, the remarkable rock formations toward the top 1/3 of the pass, the breathtaking view down the valley, and the celebration feast at Mowich Lake!

Truly, Spray Park Loop is one of the most visually interesting hikes I’ve been on. Fields, forest, rocky talus, riverbeds (both rocky and sandy), waterfalls galore, bridges, moss kingdom, mountain passes, mushrooms, badass rock, and Mount Rainier ofc! Definitely doable as a long *ss dayhike if I didn’t have my backpacking pack but I think the overnight was perfect (mental fatigue from the riverbed area). Maybe I’d recommend 2 nights if you have the time to spare, prefer a more leisurely pace, or if you want to max the side quests.

My least favorite part during the entire loop was the last mile back to Mowich Lake along the trail that goes to Eunice/Tolmie. There were some very rude dayhikers on trail that (1) had a dog on trail — and when reminded about the national park dog policy, said it was a service dog 🙄 (these people make it hard for REAL SERVICE ANIMALS to be taken seriously) and (2) would not stop for uphill hikers in narrow areas (tbh I’m fine walking in parallel if the trail is wide enough and they started swearing at me on trail after I passed them?). Dogs are not allowed in these areas for the flora and fauna, which is the whole reason behind protecting and preserving the land. Trail etiquette makes these outdoor places welcoming to everyone. Please review etiquette if you plan to share trail space with others. Here’s a short, fun youtube video from a local WA area hiker, Miranda Goes Outside, on this topic. Sadly, it made me happy that it was the last stretch to eventually get outta there. Some dayhikers man…

On the trail by 4:30am with headlamps. Wanted a head start anticipating crowds due to the extended weekend. Didn’t see anyone until sometime after 8am. Saw three bears on the hillside. One eventually came down to our vicinity. Took some pictures that resemble Sasquatch photographs. The berries are ripe and I know it’s crazy but I swear they got sweeter with the elevation gain. It was a great day. Only downside, found and retrieved 3 discarded water bottles.

An addition to previous reports about the Mowich Lake road: There are substantial stretches of really bad, though not deep potholes, especially below the Evans Creek ORV area. We also needed 45 minutes to get up to the lake, 35 minutes down. That's just for the unpaved part. The downhill lane is less wretched. And we were going at a pretty good clip given the road conditions. Drivers inexperienced with potholed gravel & dirt roads will need substantially longer.

There is more bad news: There may not be any grading of the road in the foreseeable future because of the 8 ton weight limit on the bridge over the Carbon River Gorge. For those who haven't read about it: The bridge is old and has been poorly maintained as bridges are prone to be in our state with a wise electorate allergic to taxes.

This report is a bit of an abuse of WTA's wonderful forum as we did not hike at all. Instead, we kayaked the gorgeous lake with its wonderful blue and turquoise colors. It was very rewarding, peaceful. Access to the water is easy even for us old folks. We were the only boat on the lake on a gorgeous Monday even though there were many cars parked. At other times there have been fair numbers of paddleborders.

Mountain bikers and climbers use WTA's report system, too. I happened to see a report of someone who climbed Mt. Stewart. That seems as far from hiking as kayaking. So maybe this isn't so much of an abuse after all.

Of course Mowich Lake begs for a swim, too, especially after a hot, sweaty hike? The water was cool but not cold.

Road Condition: The last 15 miles to the Mowich Lake Campground is unpaved. There were a lot of bumps and small pot holes but only 10 or so bigger pot holes. After the fee station, the last 5 miles get significantly better. The road is wide enough to fit two vehicles so you do have some maneuvering ability to avoid the bigger pot holes. It took me about 45 minutes each way in my Subaru Crosstrek. As a courtesy reminder...it's perfectly okay to drive slow to be comfortable but check your rear view mirrors and pull over to let faster cars pass!

I got to the campground parking lot a little at 8 AM to do a hike up to Spray Falls. I got one of the last few actual spots. There were about 20 cars parked along the road already but there were still plenty of room for more. The trail is in great shape even with all the rain. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the trail is signed at every intersection. My first picture is from the Eagle Cliff Lookout that is about 1.5 miles in from the trailhead. My second picture is from the Spray Falls lookout and is just a little over 2 miles in. I opted not to go further to Spray Park as my goal for the day was the Falls.