This was a really beautiful trail. Glad to see so many fall colors. Started going counter-clockwise to Spray Park and making it a loop by going through Knapsack Pass. Really lucky to have hit this so late in the year with such fantastic weather and no smoke or fog.

Saw a couple bears and goats, but mostly from far away. There was one bear my hiking partner and I saw fairly close, but we scared that one and we only saw it running. Another bear was crossing the trail and eventually wandered off somewhere, but a big group of hikers got nervous, and, prepared with my bear spray, I began to lead them. Luckily we never saw it again.

We tried going through Knapsack Pass, and it was, frankly, very difficult to do. I imagine it would be much easier going clockwise. My partner and I didn’t see a clear trail once we got near the pass and ended up scrambling up a field of loose rocks. Would not recommend this. We saw a bit of a trail after that, but it was still fairly unclear, especially since we had been following cairns the whole time until then.

There were no signs to put up a parking permit, and I completely forgot to put one up. I got a little envelope on my windshield, and I have no idea how to address the situation.

I remember the road being a lot worse on the way to Tolmie, but maybe the rest of Washington has just conditioned me to be okay with this. 

Jeno has never been to Spray Park and it's been over 10 years for me so we met very early this morning and headed up to the trailhead at Mowich Lake.   The road is rough but passable.  We've been on worse.   We got up to the parking lot at 6:15 when it was still dark out.  As soon as Jeno stopped the car I jumped out and looked skyward.  Yes!  Lots of stars were visible.  We had high hopes the smoke would hold off but sadly as you can see by my pictures that was the high point for clear skies today.   

The parking lot was about half full and the walk in campground up there was full from the looks of it.  We headed out at 6:30 towards Spray Falls.   The signs and maps say it's 2 miles from the trailhead to the turn to Spray Falls.  Both going out and coming back it seemed a lot longer than that to us.  As we meandered along your friendly author Steve decided to get up close and personal with the ground.  I don't know what I twisted my ankle on but I went down in a heap.  I was worried about my ankle but it was ok the main issue I ended up with was my knee which looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to it.  I will spare the details other then to say it looked bad and hurt worse.

After picking myself up and brushing myself off we continued on our way.  I headed down to check out the view at Eagle Cliff and it was very hazed over.  The pic that is part of this TR is the only time we saw Mt Rainier as it got hazier and smokier as we traveled along.  We took the side trip down to Spray Falls where we saw our first person.    A solo Wonderland Trail hiker.  We exchanged greetings with her and I was taking photos of Spray Falls and she went around behind me and we don't know why but she attempted to cross the creek there.  It's still flowing pretty good and I heard Jeno call out "watch it!"  I turned in time to see her fall down into the creek for a total soaking including her pack.  As Jeno rushed to help her she stood up and I saw one of her water bottles float by me.  The creek was too quick for me as it tumbled down the cascades of water and was gone.

She seemed a bit shaken once she got on dry land. We asked if she was ok (yes).  We told her about the water bottle and she said it was a spare.  We asked if she needed any water or anything and she declined our offer of help.  The three of us walked back to the main trail where we checked with her again to see if she was a-ok.  When she said she was we took off to Spray Park.  Phew!  

That mile that climbs from Spray Falls to Spray Park is steep and gnarly!   Lots of rocks  and roots to trip you up.  After my earlier excursion I was watching my foot placement very carefully.   You gain most of your elevation on the hike in that mile climbing up to Spray Park.   Once in Spray Park you continue on as long as you want on the stair stepping trail. 

We decided to go to the high point in Spray Park where it tops out before you enter Seattle Park and the trail starts down towards the Carbon River.   Sadly there were no Mt Rainier views today but there are tons of other cool things to look at up there.  My hiking buddy Jeno, he with the eagle eyes spotted two Black Bears on a far hillside making their way upslope as they foraged for food.   As Jeno said they were far enough away to enjoy them.

After a break at the high point we started back down.  We were debating how many hikers we would see on the way back and I told Jeno under 10.  Man was I wrong!  We saw 51 from the high point in Spray Park back to the trailhead.  About 8 of those were Wonderland Trail hikers.  We spoke with all of them about the trail at this time of year and how deserted it is.  We also saw the woman who had taken a tumble into the creek and wished her well.  Of the 51 hikers about half wore masks.  Like I told Jeno what disappointed me was the remainder had masks but didn't wear them or pull them up when we passed.  Oh well.

We got back to the very full parking lot at 11:15.  Just for the heck of it I counted cars by the Tolmie Peak trailhead parked along the side of the road and there were 32 when we went by but we probably saw twice that number heading up as we drove out.

Stay safe everyone.  See you on the trail.   SR   

Summary: Did the "Ipsut Creek Seattle Park" loop from "Backpacking Washington" by Craig Romano plus a few extras. Took me 24hrs including sleep. Total ascent was 8500ft according to GAIA GPS. Highlights are Mount Rainier views, Carbon Glacier views, alpine meadow views, old growth forest and plenty of elevation gain. Parking was NUTS but there is space, so just plan to walk extra. Bring your National Park Pass.

Arrived at Mowich lake around noon on a Friday. Parking was nuts, but it was even worse when I got back 24 hours later. The road up Mowich lake is long and bumpy. Be prepared for a ~50 minute dirt road drive. When I left the next day, parking was backed up a mile down the road from Mowich Lake!!

After parking, be sure to put out your National Park Pass (Discover and Forest Pass NOT accepted here). There was a ranger walking down the line issuing tickets to those with wrong passes or without them entirely. I started out at the west entrance for the loop. It's signed for the Wonderland Trail. Immediately you see the pure blue of Mowich lake between the trees. Continue down the trail enjoying the mature and beautiful hemlock old-growth forest. It took me a quick 50 minutes to the Tolmie Peak lookout from the parking lot. These views are amazing! There was some haze so I couldn't see the Olympics, but Mount Baker was faintly present on the skyline. There was an EXTREAMLY friendly chipmunk who begged me for food. He ran across my feet and even stood up on his hind legs and chirped. Almost asking "Please give me some of that powerbar". You can tell he is not hurting for food up here. He came right up to me when he heard the crinkling of my wrapper! While the views to the North are great, the money shots are towards Mount Rainier itself with Eunice Lake below. This view was incredible but it was time to push on for the rest of the loop.

Leaving Tolmie Peak and following the Wonderland Trail you descend rocky overgrown switchbacks. There is zilch for water until the bottom so keep that in mind. The descent down Ipsut Creek is via a Hemlock Highway. The trail is covered in Hemlock cones except for a narrow line in the center where the cones are stamped out showing one the way forward. There are some very well built bridges here, one of the benefits of hiking in National Parks! There are some beautiful old growth giants here, but not as big as the ones around Green Lake a few miles to the west of here.

Spend some time hiking along the Carbon River with a gentle ascent. Eventually you reach a bridge crossing the carbon. The river was rushing and although the crossing was completely safe, it felt exhilarating. After the bridge enjoy fleeting views of Rainier and the Carbon Glacier. Navigating through the rocky area right after the Carbon takes a bit of care but look for occasional cairns and worn areas indicating the way. There are some signs at an intersection, follow the wonderland trail for now. This intersection after the rocky area leads towards the Northern Loop, another challenging trail. I was worried I was not going the right direction here, but following the signs helped me navigate. Once you reach a suspension bridge you know you went the right way.

The loop continues across the bridge but I took a quick 1/4 mile jaunt up to the Carbon Glacier viewpoint. It was worth it to see the glacier closer. It is so dirty I barely recognized it as a glacier! After crossing the bridge it's an uphill slog via switchbacks to the beginning of Seattle Park. I stayed at Cataract Valley, so my site was before most of the uphill.

Arriving at Cataract Valley around 5pm it was already mostly full with two sites of seven remaining. The other campers were friendly. It was a good place to stay with a decent pit toilet and OK water access. Bear hangs are available, no need to bring rope.

The night was quiet with only distant small critter sounds. The second part of the loop was for me the most scenic. Seattle Park surprised me by how much water there was! No need to pack anything but a tiny amount of water for the ascent from Cataract Valley to Seattle Park. I started seeing some day hikers around 9am while I was in Seattle Park. Remember to look over your shoulder during the ascent. The views into the valley are stunning. Continuing the ascent to Spray Park the rocky terrain with occasional permanent snowfields disappear into alpine meadow. Bugs start appearing in Spray Park. The price to pay for the incredible views of the mountain. I took a lot of pictures here which slowed my pace.

Fog was rolling in and completely blocked out the Eagle Creek viewpoint. I took the detour to Spray Falls which was worth the short detour. From here, it's old growth hemlock forest back to the Mowich Lake parking lot. You can continue to follow the trail along Mowich Lake if you want back to the west side where you can get back to the road. This trades a dusty road walk for one along the deep blue of the lake, worth it!

What a fantastic hike!

I didn't have this hike on my radar for a fall hike but it was amazing! And what a perfect day. 

We arrived about 10:30am and found parking about 1/2 mile down the road. The trail did not feel crowded at all. The majority of people (not all) had face coverings. We did about 8 miles including the road walk, waterfall side trail and walking through Spray park. One thing to note about this trail is that there isn't an obvious turnaround point once you're in Spray Park so it's good to have a turnaround time or distance plan before turning around. 

The waterfall was impressive as usual and I was surprised to see there were still a few wildflowers in the park! The berry bushes are about halfway through turning red, and the berries were at the perfect peak of ripeness.I enjoyed sampling a few while walking along. 

The mountain herself was out and gorgeous. At times there were clouds around part of the summit (which was very dramatic) and at other times the summit was clear.

It was 38 degrees when we started at 10:30 am, I forgot to check when we returned. It seemed really warm in the sun in the afternoon but probably was not actually that warm!

Beautiful day, beautiful hike.

PS - I updated the attached blog post after yesterday's hike!

Arrived just before 9am on a Sunday and parking ok.  Up in meadow we saw 4 bears.   Two were pretty close about 50 feet away.  Others saw in distance.  We hiked up ridge to left and also saw mtn goats in distance on other side!  Some water crossings on trail but very manageable but waterproof boots I think are a must.  Be sure to stop at lookout (great mtn view very picture worthy and waterfall.  Lots of blueberries.  50% mask use...hoped for better in that regard.