Bugs were insane. I was covered and I mean covered. I sat down at one point because I overdid it in the sun and altitude and the mosquitos were all over my head and face and shirt. Deet did not deter them. Saw bears in the distance.

Meet lots of skiers on this trip!

There are thick and large patches of blooming Magenta Paintbrush and Rainier Lousewort in Spray Park; it's a very large and beautiful bloom of these 2 this year. Lots of other blooms to go with these: lupine, western bog laurel, cotton flower, bird's beak, bracted, sickletop, and coiled lousewort, mountain heather, daisies, shooting stars, white marsh marigolds, a few avalanche lilies, and more.   

Delphiniums still in bloom! Switchbacks were worth it - there are several falls, streams, and finally the wildflowers are in full bloom in the meadow! There weren’t too many pole thanks to the rough roads! But this hike was worth the bumpy ride!

The dirt road leading up to Mowich was a little rough but not bad at all. We drove a small SUV, but there were many smaller cars in the parking lot too. We started on the trail from Mowich at 7am and didn't come across another hiker until we got to the trail for Spray Falls. We heard from that hiker that there was a bear with her cub at the meadow, but momma bear and cub were gone by the time we got up there. Wild flowers and mountain views from Spray Park were absolutely beautiful. Mosquitoes were terrible so make sure to bring plenty of bug spray. We saw many more hikers as were heading back to Mowich around 10am but still not too busy.