mowich lake, carbon glacier, seattle park, spray park - 8/5

The most lovely hike ever. I must do this hike every year in August. Started at Mowich Lake on the NW corner of Mt Rainier. Quick 1.5 mi climb to Ipsut pass with easy incline. And then down down down to the carbon river. The way down is really brushy right now and was wet with rain. We ended up soaked just from walking thru brush. 5.5 miles along the valley floor go fairly quickly, though the Nov 2006 floods washed out the trail for the last mile, so its diverted to the east, adding a couple extra minutes (though putting you closer to the mouth of the carbon glacier if you're inclined to add a mile to your day. we'd seen it before, so we pushed on). Then it's 6.5 miles of up thru Seattle Park and Spray Park. In early/mid-August, these meadows are totally lit up with wildflowers. I'm not even going to try to put it into words. Will post pictures when I get them. Let's just say it is now officially my favorite spot in the region. It was pretty quiet that day, too, especially as serious clouds moved in and covered the mountain (later found out that my coworker that had summited early Sunday morning was caught in a hail storm at 11,000 ft when we were looking up at that cloud all dry. doh). it took me forever to get thru spray park cuz i didn't want to stop looking at the flowers. we finally started the walk down, though, with a brief pit stop at Spray Falls - also very impressive. turns out it's only 2.8 miles to Spray Park from Mowich Lake if you take the route counterclockwise. Must do this with the parents. When they come visit...ahem.