WARNING! Gratuitous wildflower pictures contained in this post!
The impressive base of Spray Falls
This was a pretty tough 17 mile day-hike near *The Mountain. In years past it wouldn’t have been so difficult but this year I have been very out of shape. This trip starts at Mowich Lake at around the 4900 foot level, climbs up to the 6400 foot level at Seattle Park then drops all the way down to 2600 feet at the Carbon River before climbing up over Ipsut Pass at 5100 feet. Its the 2500 feet of elevation gain in the last 5 miles that gets you! See the elevation profile at the bottom of the page to get a good idea.
If you are planning to go on this hike, Spray Park is a good turn around spot if you are only interested in the flowers and beautiful meadows. Make sure you take the side trip to Spray Falls. If you go all the way up to Seattle Park, there are some nice wide open views but when I went there were also snow fields to cross. Something to keep in mind.
Not much else to say, just another beautiful day at *The Mountain.
For best results, view video full screen at 1080p resolution.
Spray Park Trail
*The Mountain was really socked in with haze. This was my first view of the morning.
A little side stream on the way up to Spray Park
Spray Falls
Spray Falls
Spray Falls
The side trail going to Spray Falls
Entering the first meadows going into Spray Falls
I saw this guy as I was going into the first meadow at Spray Park
He just minded his own business
Good Bear!
Avalanche lilies
Avalanche lilies
Avalanche lilies
Lupine and Paintbrush
Lupine, Paintbrush and other wildflowers
Avalanche lilies
Avalanche lilies
Paintbrush and Avalanche Lilies
Avalanche Lilies along the trail
Avalanche Lilies
*The Mountain
Paintbrush and Lupine
Paintbrush, Lupine and other wildflowers
Paintbrush, Lupine and other wildflowers
Beautiful garden that is Spray Park
Different shades of Lupines and Paintbrush
Avalanche Lilies
Avalanche Lilies
Avalanche Lilies
Avalanche Lilies
Spray Park Wildflowers
Spray Park Wildflowers
Spray Park with *Mountain view
Seattle Park
Seattle Park
Seattle Park
Seattle Park
Seattle Park Panorama
Seattle Park snowfields in August
Seattle Park – a look back from where I’d come
Seattle Park
Seattle Park Panorama
Seattle Park
Descending into the trees from Seattle Park
Seattle Park
Seattle Park
Seattle Park
Lupine
Leaving Seattle Park
Cataract Camp
Forest near Cataract Camp
Detour!
Suspension Bridge over the Carbon River
Suspension Bridge over the Carbon River
Suspension Bridge over the Carbon River
Carbon River and the Carbon Glacier
Carbon River
Junction with the Northern Loop
A channel of the Carbon River
Carbon River
Trail along the Carbon River
Just 5 miles to go…. and 2400 feet of elevation gain
Was pretty thirsty and drank a whole liter of this.
Red Columbine
Looking back down towards the Carbon River and the Ipsut Drainage from Ipsut Pass
1.5 miles back to the car!
Due to an error with the tracking software, the elevation profile reads in reverse on this map.
*The Mountain – a.k.a. Mt Rainier.
Nice post, Jay. I dig the movie. The first pic of the The Mountain is killer, too. Top notch stuff and a great motivator for me. 17 miles seems impossible right now…but I’ll get there.
Thanks Chris. Just keep on hiking, you’ll get there!
Long day hike indeed but from the pictures and video it was well worth it. I’m also jealous of your bear sighting.
Thanks Al. It was totally worth it and helped condition me for a longer stretch on the Wonderland trail I did with a couple friends last weekend.