A fun group of 11 Mountaineers went up Knapsack Pass, over to Spray Park, explored 2 of the bootpaths south off of the main trail, and returned to Mowich on the main trail (our 12 mile route is in the first link). The off-trail portion after Knapsack was mostly snow-covered, but there was still 150 yards or so of boulders to get through (the snow is melting quickly, the 2nd link is a video that will give you a little feel for this portion). The main trail is snow-covered for about 100 yards, all of this was easy to traverse. Nobody in our group used their spikes, but many had poles.
We saw 95 species of plants in bloom, thanks Paul for the list! The flowers and views going up to Knapsack Pass make the boulder crossing worth it. This is the only trail in the park that has Columbia lewisia (photo 2). There are lots of thick areas of shooting stars, monkey flower, bird's beak and Rainier lousewort, magenta (and a few pink) paintbrush, and many more. Heading over to Spray Park there are thick areas of Rainier lousewort, pink heath and white heather, and magenta paintbrush (with a few white ones). Our timing for the bootpath towards Echo and Observation was great; there was lots of dwarf lupine and cliff paintbrush in bloom (some of it prettily fading to orange, photo 4), along with alpine asters and daisies, and many others. Spray Park is a little under average, especially the lupine. But, there are loads of flowers, from bunches of avalanche lilies to the first gentian, and everything in-between. There are many pretty flowers in the forest, especially in the wet areas (sierra larkspur and Scouler’s corydalis).
FLOWERING PLANTS IN BLOOM (95 species)
white (38)
vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylla)
baneberry (Actaea rubra)
sharp-tooth angelica (Angelica arguta)
woolly pussytoes (Antennaria lanata)
alpine / American bistort (Bistorta bistortoides)
white / elkslip / alpine marsh-marigold (Caltha leptosepala)
white mountain heather (Cassiope mertensiana)
mountain paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora var. albida)
heartleaf spring-beauty (Claytonia cordifolia)
Siberian spring-beauty (Claytonia sibirica)
common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
mountain / thread-leaf sandwort (Eremogone capillaris)
cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum)
white-flowered hawkweed (Hieracium albiflorum)
Gray’s lovage (Ligusticum grayi)
partridge-foot (Luetkea pectinata)
rusty saxifrage (Micranthes ferruginea)
stream saxifrage (Micranthes odontoloma)
alpine / Tolmie’s saxifrage (Micranthes tolmiei)
coiled-beak lousewort (Pedicularis contorta)
one-sided wintergreen (Orthilia secunda)
little prince’s-pine (Chimaphila menziesii)
rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia)
spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa)
clasping twisted-stalk (Streptopus amplexifolius)
queen’s cup (Clintonia uniflora)
thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
many-flower Indian pipe (Monotropa hypopitys)
bear grass (Xerophyllum tenax)
white rhododendron (Rhododendron albiflorum)
dwarf bramble (Rubus lasiococcus)
five-leaved bramble (Rubus pedatus)
Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis)
dwarf huckleberry (Vaccinium cespitosum)
pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata)
Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)
avalanche lily (Erythronium montanum)
yellow (17)
mountain arnica (Arnica latifolia)
forked wormwood / mugwort (Artemesia furcata)
Strickland’s tauschia (Tauschia stricklandii)
lesser yellow penstemon (Penstemon confertus)
northern / Rocky Mountain goldenrod (Solidago multiradiata)
shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa)
fan-leaf cinquefoil (Potentilla flabellifolia)
alpine gold daisy / fleabane (Erigeron aureus)
seep monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata)
large mountain monkeyflower (Erythranthe tilingii)
alpine lake agoseris (Nothocalais alpestris)
bracted lousewort (Pedicularis bracteosa)
Mt. Rainier lousewort (Pedicularis rainierensis)
youth-on-age (Tolmiea menziesii)
yellow mountain-heath (Phyllodoce glanduliflora)
spreading stonecrop (Sedum divergens)
arrow-leaf / triangle-leaf / bog groundsel (Senecio triangularis)
reddish: pink to red to red-purple (22)
magenta paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora var. oreopola)
cliff paintbrush (Castilleja rupicola)
Scouler’s corydalis (Corydalis scouleri)
Jeffrey’s shooting-star (Primula / Dodecatheon jeffreyi)
Columbia lewisia (Lewisia columbiana)
alpine willowherb (Epilobium anagallidifolium)
willowherb, probably Hornemann’s or smooth
(Epilobium, probably hornemannii or glaberrimum)
Lewis’s monkeyflower (Erythranthe lewisii)
mountain bog laurel (Kalmia microphylla)
leatherleaf saxifrage (Leptarrhena pyrolifolia)
little-leaf montia (Montia parvifolia)
woodland penstemon (Nothochelone nemerosa)
bird’s-beak lousewort (Pedicularis ornithorhyncha)
sickletop lousewort (Pedicularis racemosa)
red columbine (Aquilegia formosa)
Pacific / western coralroot (Corallorrhyza mertensiana)
rosy twisted-stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus)
candystick (Allotropa virgata)
pink mountain-heath (Phyllodoce empetriformis)
false azalea / fool’s-huckleberry (Rhododendron menziesii)
rosy spiraea (Spiraea splendens / densiflora)
Cascades blueberry (Vaccinium deliciosum)
bluish: blue to violet to blue-purple (13)
harebells / Scottish bluebells (Campanula rotundifolia)
Columbian monkshood (Aconitum columbianum)
Jacob’s ladder, showy or low (Polemonium pucherrinum or californicum)
subalpine daisy / fleabane (Erigeron glacialis)
mountain bog gentian (Gentiana calycosa)
broadleaf lupine (Lupinus latifolius)
dwarf lupine (Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii)
tall bluebells (Mertensia paniculata)
alpine aster (Oreostemma alpigenum)
small-flowered penstemon (Penstemon procerus)
Davidson’s penstemon (Penstemon davidsonii)
Cusick’s speedwell (Veronica cusickii)
alpine speedwell (Veronica wormskjoldii)
green (4)
broadlip twayblade (Neottia convallarioides)
alpine mitrewort (Pectiantia pentandra)
slender bog orchid (Platanthera stricta)
green false hellebore (Veratrum viride)
orange (1)
orange agoseris (Agoseris aurantiaca)
BIRDS
Hermit Thrush
Varied Thrush
Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Spotted Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Horned Lark
American Pipit
Canada Jay
Red-Breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
BUTTERFLIES
Anise Swallowtail — quite a few
blue, species uncertain
fritillary, species uncertain
MAMMALS
Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata)
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