Tolmie Peak Lookout - Eunice Lake — Friday, Sep. 27, 2019

It's been awhile since I've been out to the Mowich area so I hit this trail up today with the wife. We got to the trailhead around 8am with 3 other cars there and headed towards the lookout. The road in was potholed and washboardy in spots, but wasn't as bad as it was several years ago when I was there. We saw a fox, two deer, a two ptarmigan on the drive in, it was awesome! The sunrise was pretty spectacular driving in as well, I wish we had gotten an earlier start so we could have watched it from the lookout. Take your time through the potholes if you're in a low clearance vehicle and you'll have no issues. The trail itself is in good shape, although there are several spots that are very muddy. You can see a lot of trails cut around the mud, which is a bit of a bummer. Also, lots of TP laying around. I'm not sure why folks just don't do the ole trusty drip/shake dry, you're already sweaty and smelly, who cares if you get a few drips in your undergarments? I suppose if you have to use TP it would be super cool if you picked it up afterwards. Anyways, we saw a small group of goats on the way up just past Eunice Lake so be aware you might encounter a few. Once at the lookout we had some great views in that moment, but the wind was whipping so we didn't waste too much time before scrambling over to tag the true summit. Once over to the summit the clouds came in amazingly quick and the temps dropped and it was a reminder that weather can change drastically in the mountains so it's always good to be prepared. I'm glad I brought an extra layer, the wind and cool air made it feel like winter! The hike back down was pretty uneventful, it was mostly fogged in but that made the walk through the forest a bit more fun. We only encountered a few other folks on the trail today, I was surprised there weren't more people. There is some color change happening right now, but it's definitely not peak yet. Perhaps another 1-2 weeks. We ended our day with a coffee and some empanadas at Nomad in Wilkeson, which if you haven't been to I highly recommend. 

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