Spray Park — Saturday, Jul. 17, 2010

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

Got to the Mowich Lake parking lot at road-end about 9 a.m. -- parking lot was already full. Not a trail to take for solitude, but what fabulous views from the meadows! Still a fair amount of long snow patches in the meadows, but no trouble navigating them at all. Don't quit at the lower meadows -- if you push a bit farther the trees disappear and you will have full-on unobstructed view of Mount Rainier. Lots of avalanche lillies, but the real flower show is probably about 10 days to two weeks away. Good news -- no BUGS (yet)! Lots of folks on the trail, many with skis. Do not skip the short side trail to Spray Falls about a mile and a half to two miles from the trailhead. The falls are awesome and running hard. Trail turns noticeably steeper after the falls as it switchbacks up to the meadows which begin in about 3/4 of a mile from the falls. Didn't notice this on the way in, but sure did on the way out -- there's a lot of uphill climb getting back to the campground and the parking lot between the waterfalls and the trailhead. Save some energy for your return trip.