WARNING! Gratuitous wildflower pictures contained in this post!
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.
Due to an error with the tracking software, the elevation profile reads in reverse on this map. I went counter-clockwise when I hiked it.
*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.
Nice post and beautiful pics! I’ll be doing this loop for the first time in August this year and plan to camp a long the way as I’m not ready to hike it all in one day!
Go for it Ericka! Hopefully you’ll catch the amazing wildflower display!
I was going to hike counterclockwise from Mowich lake and camp overnight at Ipsut creek. How long do you think that will take if I leave Mowich lake by 9 am? And is that a good strategy to go in that direction? Thanks!
Sorry I’m so late in responding. I haven’t checked my website in quite a while. I hope your trip was fun. If you still haven’t gone, I would think leaving Mowich by 9 would be fine. Give yourself 3 or 4 hours, maybe a little longer if you like to dawdle and take lots pictures and snack breaks. Plus an overnight pack will slow you down some. Counter-clockwise is fine. Probably better actually since it will be a shorter uphill on day 2.