Did a day hike from Mowich Lake up through Spray Park, then down through Seattle Park to Cataract Valley before turning around and returning the way I came. Everything the previous Spray Park trip report (July 13th) was true for this day too - including the wildflower explosion and the bear sightings close to Mowich Lake! The section between Spray Park and Cataract Valley had a few snow fields - I set off at 8am having camped at Mowich Lake the previous night, reached the top before descending around 11:15am, and despite a mix of sun and clouds the snow was already quite soft making crossings a breeze. Mosquitoes were HUNGRY that day starting in Spray Park and going on up - within a minute after each time I stopped it was like a cloud of buzzing descended. Suggest bringing long sleeves/pants just for that purpose alone. And poles for the snowfields will make things easier - I was glad I had mine but they're not absolutely critical if you're just on a day hike. I had the trail mostly to myself (and the mosquitoes and the bears) the whole way up except for maybe 2 other people, and then on the way back down met a few groups but not too many. The road up to Mowich only opened on July 12th, and the conditions were the best I've seen compared to previous years. Thanks to the crews who keep these trails reachable!
As for the bears: The first sighting was a large bear within 2 minutes of leaving Mowich Lake camp (around 8am) and then a smaller bear at the second stream crossing from the camp (~0.75 miles from Mowich Lake camp) on the way back (around 3pm). I was sitting by the side of the trail at the stream having a quick snack and the bear in the photo slid down the bank to the stream about 30 feet from me - we both startled each other but thank goodness I had seen bears before so remembered to (mostly) stay calm and back away slowly. We were both very much on our way along the trail by the time I pulled out my phone and that screen shot of a video is zoomed in quite a bit. Seems like most groups I came across had seen bears either close to Mowich Lake camp or up in Spray Park.
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