Spray Park.

Rat & Rainier.

Today, I had the pleasure of going down to Rainier National Park and hiking up to Spray Park. It was a perfect day, with the sun out and the temperature in that sweet, warm-but-not-hot spot.We left just before 9am this morning and started the hike about 1040am.

The hike (WA Trail Association link) is about 3.5 miles, opening up to a gorgeous seemingly endless meadow of greenery and wildflowers. The hike up is a series of switchbacks and two highly recommended detours, one veers one-tenth of a mile off to Spray Falls and the other is a short path to a gorgeous lookout onto Rainier itself. It’s a relatively easy climb, and we passed hikers of all ages and types. The route up is also mostly shaded, which kept us cool.

Once up in the park, the views are amazing. The area still had some snow as well since it’s been an especially rough summer weather-wise. We arrived to a bit of a commotion as apparently a bear cub was frolicking along the path ahead. We hung back with some other hikers for a bit before forging ahead, but never saw the cub. The flowers were out though, and sadly, so were the mosquitoes. Interestingly, I wasn’t bit that much, as they seemed more interested in just swarming. I’m not sure about the rest of my party, but I got out largely unscathed.

On the way back down, we stopped at the lookout and ate lunch. It was a quick descent (always easier than the ascent) and it was nice to relax on the drive home. I’m very thankful to live so close to Mount Rainier, even if one day it decides to erupt and kill us all. This area is so gorgeous and having Rainier as part of the horizon is such a treat. I only wish I could get out to it and hike more often. That said, if you have the chance, take the time and check out Spray Park. It gets a fair amount of traffic, but is totally worth it and everyone spreads out fairly quickly along the trail.

Check out more photos on flickr.