Tolmie Peak Lookout - Eunice Lake — Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

I had been wanting to get this hike in ever since seeing the fire lookout after going up to Spray Park earlier in July. Also it felt like it’d be an easier challenge then Granite Mountain, which the wife and I did a week prior. After getting off work at about 2 AM in the morning, I got home, caught a few ZZZZ’s and then we left the Olympia area at around 7:30. We got to the Trailhead at about 9:30, with an already busy amount of cars. I was grinding my teeth about spending a day hiking with a bunch of other people, but fortunately, most were headed to the trailhead to Spray Park, etc. The hike begins along Mowich Lake and through some great Old Growth. After dropping down a few hundred vertical feet, you head up towards Lake Eunice. As we got closer to the Lake, we started to notice a smattering of bugs. By the time you hit the lake, you are being attacked by formations of Mosquitos! Fortunately, we were prepared but they were swarming pretty heavily when you stopped for any amount of time. After basically sprinting past the lake, we headed up the final leg to the summit of Tolmie. Spectacular views were our reward but the mosquitos were even worse up there! Any bit of skin that was showing and not treated to some repellent was attacked. I ended up taking a “stroll” along the ridge that curves SE of the fire lookout. Managed with some scrambling to get to the peak on the far left of this ridge. Was a nice drop off to the lake below but was a fun little adventure. As with Granite Mountain, we returned to a zoo. Cars lined the road for upwards of a mile from the parking lot! Once again, earlier is better!