This was such a beautiful hike! I went by myself, which I might reccomend... because there was so much life here! I saw so many birds and butterfly's! The flowers were blooming! The trail was pretty easy except for a few grunts here and there. Pretty quiet too (for a early afternoon on a Thursday anyway). BRING BUG SPRAY WITH NUKES! I was great until I got to the peak and then was attacked by mosquitos who have adapted to LOVE bug spray apparantely because I was spraying it like hell and it did nothing for me. Be sure to look around you. As I was grunting up the last stretch I went to wipe my sweat and next to me was Mount Rainier looking majestic as ever, quite literally took my breath away.

A beautiful, beautiful day, but HOT. The trail was in good shape until the few yards right before Eunice Lake; there was some snow on the trail that got a little soupy and wet with the sun. It wasn't bad if you were wearing boots, but I wouldn't want to be up there in sneakers or sandals. Also--MOSQUITOS. It was very, very buggy up there. Bring some heavy-duty bug repellant if you're going up any time soon. We headed back out and UP to Tolmie Peak, where the trail was muddy by the lake--sloppy-muddy, be careful--and STEEP beyond it. It's a rough climb but totally, totally worth it. The hot weather made for a remarkably clear day, so we could see Mt. St. Helens, the Olympics, and Mt. Baker from the lookout tower deck.

Lisa Elliot's report from July 12 is spot on. The only update is that it has melted *a wee bit* more since 3 days ago. Where the trailhead meets the road, you must clamber over about 50 feet of snow (distance, not depth) and you're soon on dry trail. It's like that all the way until Eunice Lake (about 2.3 miles in). Be careful if you decide to explore the snow banks around Eunice's edge. There is running water underneath in many places. Crashing thru into the icy water wouldn't make for a comfortable hike back.

A beautiful drive up Mowich Road just after the Carbonado bridge. After hitting the gravel, the 14 mile drive took us over many pot holes, had one lone logging truck that promptly dusted us out. After quickly rolling the windows up, there were no other cars until we reached the parking lot. Mowich Lake as of July 12, 2012 is a broken lake of ice. For security reasons we parked in the lot, then backtracked on foot up the road to meet the Tolmie Peak Trailhead. The trailhead met us with more snow and I didn't think we would make it far but, after we forged up the hill, it became dry and snow free. Ipsut Pass was a view to behold as I told my son of the days of hiking up from the old campgrounds now mostly washed out. We continued to Eunice lake to once again see the lake with mostly ice and snow around it. We could see Tolmie lookout above but didn't want to chance the trek through snow and not being able to find our way back to the trailhead to go down on our return. We turned back. I tell my son every hike is an adventure and a scouting trip. You need to remember your limits and respect the wilderness. If your trail finding skills in snow are not the best, best not to chance it. We have been lost before, so we thought--not an easy feeling.

Beautiful hike. Unfortunately there was so much snow on most of the trail and at Lake Eunice that we were unable to get to the Peak. My friend, who had done this hike many times, couldn't even find the trail opening at Eunice to complete the end of the hike due to the massive amounts of snow. It would've probably been too dangerous to do anyway. I would wait to do this hike unless you're really ambitious and know the trails well. I can't wait to try it again soon. Hopefully this sun will melt the snow and the trails won't be too muddy.