Spray Park — Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023

"Spray Park this, Spray Park that, you have to go see Spray Park!"

So, I did! Was it worth it? Absolutely. Was it an easy walk up to a pretty meadow, nope! 

Granted I am a little overweight, a little older, and not Mr. Back Woods, but this hike was difficult for me. Now it is not Mount Si difficult!! That hike nearly had me going to meet my maker last year. Additionally, I was carrying a fairly heavy pack up to Spray Park (I am a "Wonderland Trail want to be", so I packed extra stuff for training purposes)

After driving on a 16-mile dirt road that is more suitable for Abrahms tanks than cars, I found a parking spot close to the campground. Granted this was on a weekday and I arrived at 0815. After a trip to what was a surprisingly clean biffy, I hit the trail at 0845.

The sign at the campground says it is 3.0 miles to spray park (my Garmin came in at 3.2) and it should take you 3 hours round trip (I took 4 hours). I did walk up to the falls for some photos and then off on a side trail once at Spray Park to find shade for lunch.

No bear sighting, very few bugs, lots of pretty flowers and a second to none view of Mt Rainier awaited me at the park.

I walked an hour before seeing any other hikers on the trail, then as time went on there were more and more people. I imagine a weekend would be much busier.

No cell coverage, thankfully, who goes hiking wanting cell coverage, but if there was an emergency I was going to have to wait for someone with a Satellite phone.

This hike is an absolute must-do "bucket list" hike. Would I do it again? If I did, I would consider hiking into the park from the east (from Cataract Valley) just to avoid the 16-mile road from hell.