I hiked a loop today starting on the spray park trail then veering off to the knapsack pass trail and taking that up and over knapsack pass and then back down to Mowich lake where I started. I read a number of accounts of this loop online that gave me some worry about certain aspects, but after hiking this trail, I would say most of the issues that others have written are a bit overblown, but there were a few aspects NOT mentioned in other reports that to me were pretty glaring omissions. Ready on for more details...
Road/Access
I read a wide variety of reports on the condition of the Mowich Lake Road. I would say the road is easily passable by just about all vehicles as long as you're careful when driving. Admittedly I was in a 4x4 pickup, but there were very few potholes and all of them were easily avoidable. The road is extremely washboarded though, and that may be a bit jarring for some vehicles. With that said, there was nothing in the road that would have prevented any vehicle from making it to the end.
Parking/Trailhead
I got to the parking area around 8:00am and was lucky enough to find a space in the regular parking area. With that said, I would say the lot was already 95% parked up and there were some vehicles parked along the road leading to the parking area. When I left to go home, there were cars stacked up along the road for close to a half mile back from the parking lot. Long story short, get there early if you don't want to add some extra distance to your hike. I did not use the trailhead restrooms in the campground but they were open.
On The Trail
The trail from the trailhead all the way up to Spray park was in good shape. The climb from the spray falls turnoff up to the park was an early leg burner for me, but little did I know this would probably be one of the easier climbs on the route. Spray park was very picturesque, but the wildflowers unfortunately are well past their prime. With that said the views of Rainier were great and visibility to the north was great with views all the way to the north cascades.
I initially had planned to take the turnoff up to the saddle between Mt. Pleasant and Hessong rock and then go up and over Pleasant to the knapsack pass trail, but after scoping the trail up to that saddle I decided to take the longer but less steep route via the direct knapsack pass trail turnoff. I initially overshot the turnoff for the this route but was able to backtrack and find it pretty easily. From there I took that trail northwest and this was honestly some of my favorite trail that I've hiked in MRNP. You essentially hike right along the edge of the Spray park plateau with big views to the north/northeast over mist park. I read some reports that the trail is "faint" along here but the trail is well defined single track and very easy to follow.
Eventually the trail takes you up and over the shoulder of Mt. Pleasant which is a short but steep climb. The trail is pretty close to straight up here, although there are a few switchbacks towards the top. The view from the top of this shoulder over the basin below knapsack pass is worth the exertion, although the steepness of this climb is a precursor to the rest of the loop. From the shoulder, you then contour around the basin initially along good trail but eventually fading into granite slabs and boulders. This is the portion of the trail that gets a lot of flack online, but I didn't find it too bad. I was able to spot a few cairns that helped me along the way, but the route finding wasn't too difficult. There is a good chunk of boulder hopping though. I also ended up crossing two different snow fields on established boot paths. In general, aim for the path of least resistance and also try to stay high. Eventually you'll want to look for a nice flat rock with a cairn built on it towards the left side of the base of the pass. This serves as a good rest spot before the climb over the pass and is also the start of the path/trail over the pass.
The climb over knapsack pass looks improbable from afar, but there is a pretty established trail starts with a faint but well trodden path through talus and rocks, but eventually transitions to firm dirt towards the top and is easy to follow. This climb is also steep, but is on par with the climb up to the shoulder of Pleasant so if you find that climb ok, you'll be fine on the pass. At the top of the pass, I was definitely feeling the burn, but the views over mist park and back to Rainier are great. From the top, you can see Mowich Lake and the end seems to be in sight! But that's where things get interesting...
There is much written online about the state of the Knapsack pass trail coming out of Mowich lake (i.e the "trail is not maintained beyond this point" sign, etc.). Well the "unmaintained" state is very much the case with this portion of the trail. First of all, this trail is STEEP. Switchbacks are few and far between and even descending this trail, I had to use my hands to help get down some 2-3' drops in the trail that have been caused by erosion. In addition, there are a handful of downed trees over the trail as well as some loose rock sections that would have been sketchy without poles for support. All of this in a section that either ascends or descends (depending on your direction) 1400' in a little over a mile. Honestly, this hike was great and would have been one of my favorite in the park, but the descent down from the pass was BRUTAL and made for a tough end to what was otherwise a great alpine adventure.
Bugs/Weather/Misc.
I only ran into bugs in lower down in spray park when I stopped for a snack break. They weren't bad but I probably acquired a few bites. Once I got higher in elevation they disappeared, and I didn't experience any the rest of the way (including by Mowich lake). Weather was great today although almost a little warm in the sun. There were plenty of opportunities to filter water along this route.
Final Thoughts
I actually saw quite a few parties on various parts of this loop so although it's not identified on many maps, it's definitely one that's caught the attention of many hikers out there. I speculate that the reason the knapsack pass trail stays "unmaintained" is that to "maintain" it would require lots of re-routing and erosion control, to the point where it would almost be akin to cutting a new trail altogether. With that said, this is a solid adventure in the mountains and offers a lot of scenic value for a ~6 mile loop.
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