Great conditions for a late summer climb! Starting out from the Mowich Lake trailhead, my brother and I were able to find the Knapsack Pass trail next to the ranger cabin with only a little difficulty. There was a blowdown right across the start of the trail, obscuring it. While it had been misting down at lower elevations, the trail was dry and in good shape. (We were told that wet conditions can be nasty on the Knapsack Pass trail.) As we gained elevation, the cloud deck lowered so we had sun and moderate temperatures most of the way up. I was pleased to find some avalanche lillies still in bloom on the west side of the pass. Some wild blueberries, too! Beyond the pass and heading for the main Spray Park trail, there is a lot of independent routefinding to do, picking your way through the boulders. It's definitely easier to get to Spray Park via Knapsack than it would be to head back to Mowich the same way. From the 6400 foot high point on the Spray Park trail, we found the path heading up towards Observation Rock. The path is clear up to a snowfield at about 6800 feet. Take the snowfield up to nearly 7000 feet, then go up over or around a rocky hill and you will find a sweet campsite with windbreak at the bottom of another snowfield. (Park regulations forbid building new windbreaks or clearing new backcountry campsites, but this one is already in place.) The campsite has a fantastic view towards Echo Rock, The Mountain, and Observation Rock, and a creek running off of the snowfield about 100 feet away. We had started our trip on a Friday just to increase our odds of landing a great spot like this one, perfect! We set up camp and hung around in the evening, tromping up the little snowfield to take a look at the Flett Glacier and plan our route for the next day. Temps must have dropped to freezing overnight, because the creek had ice on it in the morning, and there were also ice crystals in the dirt in camp. We were glad we had our 15 degree bags! Our goal for the trip was to climb Observation Rock on Saturday. The front slope of the Flett above camp looked a bit steep and icy to us, but we're just building our skills and it appeared that others went right up it. We elected to instead head cross-country to the west, crossing bounder fields and other arms of the Flett, to ascent to Ptarmigan Ridge. The western end of the Flett has a marvelous 30-foot wide ramp sloping easily up to the Ridge. More rocky travel followed, and we easily found our way up the back side of Observation, all the way to the top! Bluebird conditions, and 360 degree views including looking down on Echo Rock 500 feet lower. We took 2.5 hours from the campsite to the peak via this route. After lunch on the rock we decided to head down on a somewhat more direct route toward camp, on the Flett along the edge of Echo Rock, down to the point where it became too icy and thin, where we hopped onto the red rocks and went cross-country back to camp to rest and enjoy the evening. 1.5 hours from the summit back to camp. That evening we finally met some other hikers; since leaving Mowich we hadn't met a single person for over 30 hours. Sunday morning was clear and cool at altitude after another freezing night, and our hike back to Mowich Lake via the main Spray Park trail was a joy! It was sunny throughout Spray Park, the air was cool and just slightly moist, and many of the wildflowers were still in bloom. Best of all, there were no biting bugs that morning! We had such a good time that I'm already keen to go back!

Dusty washboard road. Arrived at the lake just before 10am. Already lots of parked cars and warm termperatures. And so my accountant and I headed up (or down, to start) the trail. Very pleasant until after Spray Falls and then it was hot and steep. The meadows were gorgeous, Av lilies waning, lots of fragrant lupine and that mountain. No marmots, the nice cool underground much more attractive than the hot summer sun. Took a water filter and the cool fresh water from the stream at the entry to Spray Park was a welcome relief. My accountant tells me we passed 95 people coming in on our way down. She also decided to rechristen the hike, renaming it BUG Spray Park.

We got a bit of a late start, arriving at Mowich Lake about 10:30am. Yes, it was hot, and yes, the bugs were pesky- but aren't they everywhere at the moment? We got to Spray Park in about an hour (3 miles) and the flowers were amazing & prolific! Just past Spray Park,on top of a ridge there is a spur trail that leads up between Echo Rock & Observation Rock. We chose to head up the snow (faster) and go around behind OR(to better sneak up on the summit), but encountered a bunch of red,crumbly pumice. Getting over that slowed us up a bit.(the red mixed with the gray granite was pretty though) We regained a snowslope & then scurried up to the top. The hot sun was producing a veritable symphony of rockfall from the glaciers directly above us- always nice to be watching & listening from a safe distance! We did enjoy a respite from bugs with a nice breeze and a bit of altitude. (about 8300') Heading down (good glissades, but bumpy with suncups on my tender derriere,) we noticed some dark, ominous clouds coming our way from the east- this put a bit more spring in our step. We drove home dreading the hot house that awaited , so we detoured to grab something to eat in an air-conditioned environment- putting off coming home until much later- house was still 87- ugh.

Arriving at Mowich Lake parking lot shortly before 8 a.m., we found it about 1/2 full. (The road in was fine, some minor washboards but not the kind that make your teeth chatter.) We were promptly greeted by the gray jays - looked like the overnighters weren't up, for the most part. The trail to Spray Park was delightful and not crowded (on the way up, that is). We encountered a few muddy spots here and there, and patches of snow in the upper section of the park. Obviously, it's melting out fast in this weather! The avalanche lilies stole the show. Beargrass was just starting to bloom, with much more to come. Jeffrey's shooting star, paintbrush, bistort, lupine, marsh marigold, sitka valerium, pink mountain heather, showy sedge, and many others were on display as well. A few bugs pestered us over lunch, but nothing too troublesome. A hummingbird buzzed by rather close (sounded like a giant bee) and caused us to upset part of lunch. Enjoyed the calls of the marmots and pine siskins. By the time we started to hike out around noon, the trail was pretty much like I-5. Cars lined the road beyond the parking lot for a mile or so. A delightful hike--I was ready to see some lilies and Spray Park certainly delivers.

Arrived at Mowich just after 8:00. Only 4 cars in parking lot, probably most were camping. The edge of the lake has patches of snow, but it’s melting quickly. I would assume it will be gone after this weekend. I took some photos of the lake and then hit the Spray Park trail. So many flowers, some I’ve never seen. I stopped at Eagle Cliff for the view and then headed up to Spray park. I skipped the falls today, I never seem to be able to photograph it right. The trail was the same as I remember except maybe a few more switchbacks. But worth every step once I arrived. Trail was muddy in many spots. I saw several backpackers today. Marmots were grazing and whistling enjoying the day. Bugs were mostly flies and they followed me up the trail but going down there was a nice breeze, not a problem. I wandered around tarns and areas I haven’t explored, enjoying the solitude planning my next trip there and where I will go. Saw a baby pika in the rocky area on the way down, so adorable! Then came the butterfly show. Did around 8 miles today 6 hours. Hike #62 of 2009 I will be back for Tolmie…. Oh, and I accidentally forgot to put my Rainer pass on my dash, remembered when I saw a ranger on the trail.. told him I forgot and hoped I wouldn’t get a ticket.. There was something on my window a reminder to pay or show my pass.. my bad..