The first 2 miles of the forest hike are not too exciting, and the third mile is quite steep with a few teaser glimpses of Tahoma/Mt. Rainier. But it is so worth it! The wildflower display in Spray Park was epic! And the clear blue skies and mountain views made for a picture perfect backdrop that shouldn’t be missed. Once you reach Spray Park, you should know that the trail continues through the the meadows for about a mile. It is slightly uphill the whole way through Spray Park, but if you have the energy, continue through the whole area as the mountains get better with elevation and the flowers are prolific. If you get to the large snow patch on the trail that’s about 100 feet across, that’s a good end point for the best flower displays.

A hiker told us about a bear sighting a quarter mile ahead, so I walked slowly, scanning the meadows, and sure enough, there was a brown bear about 100 feet off of the trail meandering through the meadows and completely ignoring us. I would have totally missed it if I had not been told about it, so keep your eyes peeled for wildlife in the meadows.

To be honest, while the wildflower display is spectacular, it is slightly beyond prime. I would recommend going to see them within the next week, two at the most. Bugs were out in full force. I would recommend long pants and long sleeves and a hat and spraying all of your clothes with bug spray. There was a slight haze around Mt. Rainier and a slight brown haze over the smaller mountain peaks to the north, probably from the forest fires.

Tons of cars parked at Mowich Lake and the road leading there. If you arrive in the busiest part of the day (early afternoon), you may have to literally walk a mile from where you park to the trailhead. 

If you've never been to Mowich Lake you might be surprised by the 15 miles of washboard gravel road. If you HAVE been here, you should know that it's in great shape compared to previous years. Parking lot was over half full at 7 AM. Pit toilets are open and stocked, and well ... pit toilets. Bring your own sanitizer.

The trail starts out descending into the woods. It's shaded and the trail is in great shape. First time or not, I'd say do not skip the .1 mile spur to Spray Falls. It's a stunning waterfall especially right now. After the initial descent you'll go gradually up the rest of the way to Spray Park. 

After Spray Falls the climb gets serious. At the 3 mile mark, you'll break out into the meadow. There are still avalanch lilies lining the trail and paintbrush and lupine are exploding too. The bugs were ferocious. My advice always: keep moving. It's around 8 miles roundtrip to Seattle Park and worth it to explore the flat meadow. Zero wildlife on this hike and only a couple cooperative birds. 

Lots of folks heading up as I returned. By 1:30 the parking lot was packed and dozens of cars were pulled off by the side of the road. Despite the full lot, this hike never feels busy or impossibly hard. More photos on my blog linked below.

https://insearchofthevery.com/2021/07/23/spray-park-seattle-park/

A gorgeous day on the mountain. Our first time hiking Spray Park. The wildflowers were absolutely stunning. As we worked our way up the trail thru the meadows we were blessed to view a beautiful cinnamon black bear making her/his way down the hillside. We retreated and watched the bear from above as he/she grazed thru the meadow for a half hour or so. What a gift of a day❤️🙏🏼

Trailhead at 8am 3hikers on way up Passed 90 going up on our way out in early pm start early. Anyone know where the marmots have gone? Third year with no sightings used to see dozens. Have the crowds scared them off?

I wanted to try Knapsack Pass-Spray Park loop with a stop at First Mother Mountain for sunrise.

NOTE: Knapsack Pass trail is steep, rough and unmaintained. Regardless if you go CW or CCW.  The trail between Knapsack Pass to Spray Park is steep with loose scree and ice around the pass. I utilized navigation frequently until I was on the Spray Park trail. 

Knowing Knapsack pass is an unmaintained trail and averages 100ft of elevation/0.1 mi for the first 1.5 miles, I left myself ample time to get to First Mother Mountain in time for sunrise.

The hardest part of Knapsack Pass from Mowich Lake is finding the start of the TH.  It is just past the Mowich Lake rangers cabin. I knew this.  I read it in every trail report.  I had navigation.  And it was still difficult.  Granted it was 3:30am.

I took the 1.3 miles from Mowich Lake to the base of First Mother Mountain slow.  I did not find the trail difficult to follow. Then again, it was dark, I was going super slow and had my navigation at the ready. 

The first 1.3 miles is overgrown in spots.  Roots and rocks are the name of the game for trail tread. There was one spot just past the Faye Peak trail that there is a river crossing and the trail takes a hard right.  I missed this turn and found a cool water fall 200 ft past the trail.  Quickly realized my mistake and found the trail again.

I got to the First Mother Mountain trail much quicker than anticipated.  I took the trail up as far as I could without having to scramble.  Knowing I had an hour yet to sunrise, I threw on my puffy and gloves with hand warmers and explored the area as daylight broke.

For photographers, you do not need to summit First Mother Mountain, unless you want to.  After heading north off of the Knapsack Pass trail, 200ft up the trail to your right (east), there is a large ledge that has better lighting and space than does the summit. Plus no scrambling!

Once the sun rose, I headed back to the Knapsack Pass trail and headed towards Spray Park.  The first half mile after the pass is rocks and snow. See pic below showing the general direction from Knapsack Pass to Spray Park.

I was early enough that the snow was ice and no post holing. The bad part was that I was early and it was ice making micro spikes useless.  Someone had been through recently and left deep foot prints enough that I could easily follow safely.

Once past the snow/ice fields, the part of the trail before Spray Park is fantastic!  Wildflowers were in better bloom than in Spray Park. Wildlife was abundant. Goats, ptarmigan, marmots and a bear was hanging out down in Mist Park. 

Once onto the Spray Park trail, I noticed that lupine and paintbrush have really started to bloom since last week when I was on the trail.  There is still a ton of avalanche lilies.  They are somewhat past prime.  The wildflowers Spray Park is known for are just coming into bloom.

Overall I clocked 7.76 miles with 2,367ft of elevation gain in 5 hours which includes the hour I hung out and wandered around waiting for the sun to rise.