Tolmie Peak Lookout - Eunice Lake — Friday, Aug. 4, 2017

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

Difficulty: Easy to moderate (lots of incline and decline throughout the trail) Duration: 1.5 hours up, 1 hr 15 mins down. Drive: The last 15 miles to the Trailhead is rough. That road is all gravel with many small rocks. Not many big potholes but we made it just fine with a Subaru Forester. We were driving around 20-25 miles. Just take your time and you will be fine. Parking: No real parking lot. Parking is on the side of the road next to the start of the Trailhead. Trail: We opted for a sunset hike so there wasn't too many cars by the time we got there. We started around 6:30 and got to the lookout a little before 8pm. We were pretty sad we didn't get a chance to explore Eunice Lake. It's such a beautiful lake with such pristine water. I highly recommended stopping there. After you reach the lake, the lookout is only 0.9 miles. You can see it from there too. It looks farther than it really is. The trail is exposed after the lake so wear sunscreen. There were about 3 groups that hiked around the same time we did. I wasn't too fond of this trail. Don't get me wrong, the views are out of the world but I hate trails that incline and decline on the way to the destination. I would rather get all the incline out of the way first. Overall, the trail is nicely maintained. Some parts are narrow with beautiful wild flowers. Cons: BUGS! Omg worst encounter with bugs on a trail yet! I hike a lot and I have never gotten bit so much. I have 40 mosquito bites from this trail. Please please wear bug spray! I wanted to stop at some view points to take pictures but the bugs weren't forgiving.