A flower update for Spray Park and some of the bootpaths that branch out. Our group of 9 Mountaineers were lucky enough to see a cinnamon-colored black bear foraging in the lush meadows (1:26-212 on the video). I think it was the same bear I saw last week. 

In general, the flowers are very good right now in the subalpine meadows and alpine areas. There are a wealth of avalanche lilies throughout Spray Park, some fading to pinks and reds, some are fresh white. There are lots of other early flowers in the Park: the yellow Strickland's umbrella wort/tauschia, white marsh marigolds, pink and white heather, shooting stars, pink bog/alpine laurel, and more. There are areas of thick magenta paintbrush, Mt Rainier lousewort, and lupine; lots of these will be blooming in the coming weeks. 

The bootpath towards Echo and Observation (yellow on this caltopo map https://caltopo.com/m/02D2) has some very good flowers. Many of the cliff paintbrush are fading from bright scarlet to lighter reds and oranges (see video). There are thick areas of magenta paintbrush, alpine asters (see video), bird's beak lousewort and others. If you want to see the best flowers in this area, you want to get there pretty quickly. We had lunch at .8 miles in on this trail and saw a skier coming down the slopes above and one skinning up.

The boothpath towards Knapsack Pass (blue on the caltopo map) has areas with very thick displays of magenta paintbrush, Rainier lousewort, pink and white mountain heather, and lupine. Other areas on this trail are just coming out. This trail will have great flowers in the weeks to come (and there are great viewpoints down into Mist Park).

We also did short sections of the boothpaths to Pleasant and the "skier's boothpath" (orange on the caltopo). Both of these had good flowers, mostly avalanche lilies, 

Road in has a lot of washboards, but not any large potholes, pretty dusty and slow, but not bad at all (make sure to turn your headlights on). Got to trailhead around 11:30am, definitely a long line of cars parked on the road, but a lot of folks were taking off so snagged a spot relatively close.

Trail is in excellent condition, even with all of the cars we saw, felt like we were alone a majority of the hike. Make sure to make the extra trip to the viewpoint and waterfalls, both worth it. Didn’t reach snow until 4ish miles in, pretty minimal mud. Folks we saw on the trail had run into a brown bear that was pretty close to the trail, however had already moved on by the time we got there. Bugs were a bit terrible, seemed to get worse the more we hung out. My guess is they would have been not as bad earlier in the day.

• Road was great (compared to a lot of other ones we were on). No potholes. Just very dusty so roll the windows up and drive with your headlights on. The trailhead parking was overcrowded. We arrived around 11:30 on a Sunday. Luckily we were able to parallel park into a spot nearby. The park ranger was out giving out tickets to those who parked on the side with the ‘No parking’ sign- so be careful!
• Bugs were very annoying but not terrible. There seemed to be more of them in the meadow area. Even with bug spray they were still bothering us. Came home to bug bites all over my arm.
• Weather was excellent. Warm and sunny. Bring sunscreen and sunglasses. Felt comfortable hiking in long pants and a tank top.
• Trail was in great condition. The handle rail to one of the crossing bridges was down but didn’t affect the bridge. Moderate amount of people on the trail to families, solo hikers, campers and big groups. Saw a deer. Only saw bear scat. No bear seen, only reports of a bear sighting by other groups. 

What a spectacular wildflower experience!  Avalanche lilies in such profusion!  And bear grass, lupine, shooting star, paint brush, huckleberry, twin flower, foam flower, aster...  The abundance was fabulous.  And to see all the stages of avalanche lilies from green shoots, to buds, to acres of flowers, to wilting flowers to seed pods.  Wow.

With the low clouds, it felt like we were alone at Spray Park.

The road is in great shape!  The trail recently had water control work done.  The toilet at the trailhead was in great shape.  Thanks to the NPS staff/volunteers for the great work.  And if the Great American Outdoors Act had anything to do with it, thanks to Congress and the president for helping make it a great day.  

I went for an early morning sunrise hike.  I learned  Spray Park is a trail meant to be enjoyed in full sun light. Although I enjoyed the current wildflowers blooming, they were in shade for most of my hike.

I also learned that the best spot to enjoy the sunrise is on the trail itself.  I took the Spray Park social trail (the one towards Echo Rock/Observation Rock) to the end.  The flower display was fantastic. Not necessarily the best spot to enjoy sunrise viewing on the surrounding landscape.

It does seem to be an avalanche lily super bloom year! 

As far as a snow report, nothing has changed since AlpsDayTripper's report on Monday.  There are 4 different snow fields to cross. Nothing difficult or dangerous.  I was surprised with the sun and warmth that we have had, there wasn't more melt. 

No bear sighting this morning. However, there was a pile of scat on the trail just near the Lee Creek Bridge (first creek crossing coming from Mowich Lake), that was not there on my way up.

I did swing by Spray Falls on my way down.  The flow was low this morning.