[Schroder]

Forty years ago I got a 4 a.m. start from Mowich Lake, headed up to Knapsack Pass and then climbed the Mountaineer 9 "pin peaks" in one day. I knew I couldn't repeat that effort but I decided a good anniversary trip would be to head straight for Observation Rock. Chris & I left town at 5:30 & drove through fog & clouds to Mowich Lake, where we hit the trail at 8 a.m.. A couple of hundred feet up the trail we broke through the fog and into the sunshine. Getting to Knapsack Pass was fairly quick & there were only a couple of snow patches on the way up. On the backside, it was almost continuous snow to upper Spray Park and then we were back on the trail. We contemplated climbing Echo Rock first, but decided not to mess around with the rotten pumice and headed onward. Here we saw 5 skiers headed for the Flett Glacier. A short time later we were standing on the summit at about 1:30. Weather was perfect temperature-wise and no bugs. The clouds were a dramatic backdrop all day.

Mowich Lake from Knapsack Pass

Mother Mountain

Spray Park

Eruption

Mist Park

Wind on Willis Wall

Hessong Rock

Chris approaching pumice

Echo Rock

Our destination

getting close

Lake in Spray Park

The Summit

Looking toward Mystic Lake

Liberty Cap Glacier

Willis Wall

heading down

clouds closing in

skier

skier

heading for Spray Park

Heading into Spray Park we encountered this Goat that jumped to his feet as soon as I snapped his picture and he ran full tilt for a mile across the snow.

Goat

camera shy goat

Lilies in Spray Park

We finished the loop going down via the trail with a side trip to Spray Falls.

Spray Falls

Back to the car by 7:00 and then dinner at Wally's in Buckley.

[silence]

awesome .. that was on my list for today though i was expecting a little more snow .. but we have too much work to do and robert's feet are swollen fm olympus .. what's with that anyhow??

[Hikingqueen]

Way cool trip! Love the running goat pic.

[jd_hiker]

Forty years ago I was most likely in trouble. Beautiful pictures. There was a lot more snow in Spray Park than in Berkeley. Have to head up there as it's been at least 20 years. Then again 20 years ago I was mostly still in trouble. Great way to celebrate the anniversary.

[puzzlr]

I was up there last October. It was cloudy but not rainy. But the wind was blowing so hard through that pass just above Observation Rock we could barely stand up. I need to go back on a nice day and create a better memory.

[Scrooge]

Celebrating 62

Obhservation Rock

My entire solo hiking file may belong in the CELEBRATION thread, but it began here, on Observation Rock. At that point, it was a personal high point, reached on my 62nd birthday, in 1963. That was the year I started carrying a camera and recording my trips. Each year, since then, I've titled each group of files the same way. 1963 became "Celebrating 62"; this year, it's "Celebrating 68". I try to make each birthday something a little special. Five years ago, I was in the Enchantments. This year, I'll be in the Enchantments again, starting the day after. ....... Close enough.

[Schroder]

That's the way to do it, Scrooge. My birthday's in January so it's a little difficult for me to do that. I had a cousin that did the Wonderland Trail on his 80th - I hope to do it at 80.5.

[Snowdog]

wonderful trip!- I'm interested in doing more hikes in the park this year, as my faithful canine companion is nearing 14 & has retired from hiking.(Usually when I think Rainier, I think summit or Muir.) I'll be trying this loop soon- maybe Wed.

[silence]

and then there's my personal hero tiny bronka sundstrom .. who summited rainier in 19 hrs at age 77 .. she keeps me truckin http://www.mountainexperience.com/Reports/News/MX%20News-Bronka%20Sundrstrom.htm

[raising3hikers]

That's a lot of avalance lilies in spray park! Nice pic. That's a nice fun climb to do