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.
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