Spray Park

Directions: From Puyallup drive 13 miles east on Highway 410 to Buckley. Turn right (south) onto Highway 165 and proceed through Carbonado. Just beyond the Carbon River Gorge bridge, bear right onto Mowich lake Road. Follow the road about 17 miles to its end; the trail head is at the far end of the Mowich lake Campground.

Trail Notes: Wow has Spray Park become a popular destination - that was my first thought upon reaching Mowich Lake.  A quick count of the cars at the trail head yielded a number of over 100.  I noticed only one car nearest the Tolmie Peak trail head and was tempted to do this hike rather than Spray Park fearing the crowds would be unbearable.  However, not having done this hike in a couple years thought better or it...that combined with my last experience on Tolmie Peak.  Not a bad hike at all, just a bad personal experience.

So I started off doing the decent to get around Hessong rock.  Almost immediately I ran into quite a few people, and even more bugs which surprised me given the lateness of the season.  At any event, the bugs were mostly black flies which while bothersome don't seem to bite very often.  Also the occasional horse fly which are equally impaired when it comes to taking chunks out of you.  After about 30-40 minutes I reached Eagles Roost lookout which is the spot I have taken my favorite picture of all time.  I highly recommend stopping by this on the way back since the light it better then.

So I opted to continue along enjoying the relatively level part of the trail which abruptly comes to an end right past Spray Falls which is a worthwhile couple minute jaunt.  I similarly didn't stop here on the way up, instead opting to get the uphill out of the way... with hopes of some wind at the top to knock down the bugs.  I don't know what happened on the uphill, but for some reason found the going very tough.  I woke up dizzy this morning so maybe that was it...or maybe it was the Taco bus from the day before.  Regardless I continues on up to Spray Park.  The sign advertises it as .8 miles from Spray Falls, though it isn't clear to me where exactly Spray Park begins.  To my way of thinking it is just past the fist footbridge where you enter the park.

For some reason the sky was very hazy today which made for hazy pics...  Even being only a couple miles from Mt. Rainier the pictures were hazy.  And the wildflowers too are well beyond their prime.  So without much adew I continued on up through the park.  As I hiked along I notice several groups of people taking their leisure along the trail.  It looks like a goodly amount of people get to the first part of Spray park and call it good.  Continuing along the populations of people continued to diminish until at the crest of Spray and Seattle Parks I found myself alone.  First time that has happened at the crest...and with 100+ cars in the parking lot.  Go figure

The wind did pick up as I progressed up the meadows in Spray Park.  At the crest I opted to go up the spur trail which ultimately leads to Echo and Observation rocks albeit crossing snow fields is required.  After about 15 minutes or so along this trail I picked a nice spot to pull off enjoy the scenery and have lunch. Surprisingly even on this warm day the wind was strong enough to make me feel cold after a while.

So I started my return, not much to report.  I did stop off at Eagle Roost and did get a couple nice pictures there.  The flies seemed pretty bad there, I maybe it is the continued meal ticket at that spot which makes them so numerous. And another 30-45 minutes later I was back to the trail head.  A nice hike.  The people weren't as numerous as I had initially thought they would be, however the flies were more numerous.

Directions: From Puyallup drive 13 miles east on Highway 410 to Buckley. Turn right (south) onto Highway 165 and proceed through Carbonado. Just beyond the Carbon River Gorge bridge, bear right onto Mowich lake Road. Follow the road about 17 miles to its end; the trailhead is at the far end of the Mowich lake Campground.

Trail notes: Spray Park is one of the most beautiful areas of Mount Rainier. Some would have you believe that Spray Park isn't as beautiful as some of the other Alpine Meadows in the Park. This couldn't be further from the truth. Spray Park truly stands out as a relatively undiscovered gem.

The trip to Spray Park starts off at Mowich Lake elevation 3700 feet. It is best to get there early and better yet to get there early during the middle of the week to ensure you get as much of the alpine scenery to yourself as possible. It wasn't crowed this day and I didn't see that many people. Still the awe of the landscape just seems to make the absence of people all that much more desirable. The trail starts off losing a couple hundred feet of elevation to round Fay Peak, Hessog Rock, and what appear to be some avalanche chutes. Make sure that you do not take the Wonderland Loop trail which you intercept about 10 minutes in unless you are heading to Paradise! Instead, continue on for about 30 minutes or so through alpine old growth trees shrouded for the most part with long stringy moss. Another thing which stands out about this section of the trail is the quiet you that gets ever more pervasive with elevation and forests in particular. After the first half hour you reach the lowest elevation of the hike and begin the upward journey. The uphill isn't bad and frequent trailside attractions present themselves. The first is Eagle Cliff look out which was the location of the best picture of Rainier I have taken (()). If you are arriving later in the day for this hike you will likely find people here. After this point the trail takes on more of a mine car like feel. In a way the trails construction reminds me of the scene in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom where they are racing coal cars. The trail sort of has that I can't believe this is real feel. It just seems the trail makers much like the makers of the Indiana Jones scene simply couldn't make such a creation. In the case of Indiana Jones they couldn't and used computer generated graphics. In the case of the trail quite clearly they did make it - after all you are now walking on it right?

The next stop up the trail another 20 minutes or so is the spur trail over to Spray Falls. I opted to catch this on the way back since I was eager to get up to the meadows and enjoy the environs. If you are short on water, which you shouldn't be at this point fill up here since water isn't so reliable until you are in Spray Park proper. From the Spray Falls spur the trail gets steeper and switchbacks it's way up for about 20-35 minutes depending on your speed. Care should be taken on the way down if traveling with kids since there are a few of the switchback turns could be ‘an adiós amigo’ if one isn't careful.

As I came up the switchbacks I began noticing the undergrowth lightening up and suddenly as often is the case Whamo I am out in Spray Park proper - Wow! It seemed there was an entrance to Spray Park just past the bridge entering the first meadow. I wondered what kind of wonder I was in for. Spray Park it actually quite large as alpine meadows go. In fact once you have entered the Spray Park proper you will be ascending albeit more gently than the switchbacks for the better part of an hour to the Saddle. Don't fret your legs won't feel anything since the surroundings are so magical. In the distance you will see two large cinder cones up against Mount Rainier; they are (from left to right) Echo Rock and Observation Rock. It really didn't seem real. During this time you will see as many alpine flowers as you probably have anywhere and also likely seem several marmots. Do please stay on the established trail though several people have gone over hill and dale and in places it does show.

Upon reaching the Spray Park Saddle you have a great view down into Seattle Park which if doing a trough hike to the Ipsut ranger station would be the way to go (would seem to be an awesome idea!). I wasn't so instead I turned my attention toward Echo and Observation rock. At the saddle there is a climbing trail leading directly up toward them. Like most everything in the Park they appear closer than they actually are, and I was content to head up this trail for about an hour. During this time there seems to be endless Kodak moments with hidden lakes making themselves apparent, and the discovery of stone shelters. Anyway it is just a wonderful place to take lunch, a break, and contemplate the wonders of nature.

The time was growing later and I still wanted to see what was going on at Spray Falls so I began my return. The return is just as neat as the ascent was, probably nicer if you prefer the downhill. Upon reaching the spur to the Falls I turned off and walked across the log bridge. The falls are about 10 minutes from the main trail and are definitely worth the extra effort. Spray falls is quite large, in height if not in flow.

Returning to Mowich Lake was quite nice too and ultimately yielded the parking lot. Upon reaching the lake I knew what time it was - time to take off my boots and get some of that ice cold water on the hot feet - ahhh!

A word of advice, if you are doing this hike there is a trade-off to be made. If you come early in the season late June-July the wildflowers will be more colorful but be aware there will likely be bugs. If you don't mind the skeets, by all means come early and experience the full beauty. Alternatively if you visit in late August-October it will be dry as a bone and no bugs to speak of.