Road to trailhead at Paul Peak better than expected for this time of the year, worst part is last mile or so just before the parking lot.  Road is snow free to parking lot, and snow starts soon after the gate.  A slight dusting building to about 2 inches where Grindstone trail starts.  Path through the woods has light snow-ice with some areas still having running or standing water, but is in petty good shape.  Snow not very deep until you get back onto the road.  Probably 5-6 inches under tree cover around the lake to over 12inches at the campground.    Today the snow was pretty firm and only sunk a couple of inches at most.  As you can see the lake is not freezing over yet, there were a few areas next to the shore where some small icing was starting. Didn't see anyone else until nearly back to gate.  Best mountain views on road going out.

REMINDER:  Mowich Lk Rd is closed for the season.  It is either a 5 mile walk up the road or one has to utilize the Grindstone trail to make it 4 miles to Mowich Lake and all of the TH’s.

With weather changing yet again tonight, I am not sure how much this report will help anyone.

Driving Mowich Lake Road:  The first 9 miles are still in decent condition up until the park boundary.  The worst is the short ½ mile to the parking areas. This section has deteriorated significantly in the last 10 days since I have been up there.  Multiple potholes that can’t be avoided.  Not quite car sucking yet.  Getting close.

Warning that forest logging is going on along Mowich Lake Rd.  To my surprise, a fully loaded logging truck was coming down at 4am.  Have never seen this in 20 years.  Something to be aware of for those that like to fly up and/or down the road.

I chose to avoid Grindstone today and rode my bike all the way up to Mowich Lake.  The Grindstone trail tends to be muddy on a dry day.  Thought it might be pretty bad after the heavy rains we had.

Patrol Cabin to Knapsack Pass:  A tree has fallen across the trail right after the “unmaintained trail” sign.  It looks fairly recent as the sawdust looks fresh.  I found it easiest to go under the tree.  It does have a blue spray paint marking.  

The trail from the cabin to the pass was a running stream of water for 90% of the trail.  Good thing I avoided Grindstone only to get wet feet an hour later.  🙄  No way to avoid wet feet.

Knapsack Pass to Spray Park Trail:  Every year I say I will only do this trail in the spring when snow is present on this section.  Every year I forget that mantra and do a late fall hike.....cursing myself the entire way.

Going from the pass to Spray Park is an exercise in boulder climbing and navigation.  There is a ¾ mile section of a large boulder field, and without snow, a trail does not exist.  

I have hiked this trail frequently. Hence I know where to head.  It still makes for a physically challenging section going up and over large boulders while trying to keep a straight line. 

I did see some cairns set up.  Do NOT follow them.  They were way off trail.  Not sure if someone was playing a joke on others.  Or if they were that lost and made cairns to help them find their way back.

Without the snowfields/glaciers, there were some really cool tarns that I have never seen before.

About a ½ mile off the boulder field and onto the regular connector trail, there was the herd of goats that I frequently find here in the off season. Today, they were sleeping right on the trail on the way to the Spray Park trail.   As to not disturb them and to give my legs a rest, I cut my hike short by heading up to Mt Pleasant instead of doing the full Spray Park trail.  I then took the trail down from the saddle to the Spray Park trail. 

Spray Park trail:  The trail is surprisingly dry!  Tarns, streams and creeks are flowing well.  The trail itself is in great condition.

Crowds:  I did not see a human being all day! There was one car in the lot when I got back to my car.  Not sure which trail they were on.

Wildlife:  Goats everywhere!  Not only on trail.  There was a group hanging out west of Knapsack Pass.  More just below Hessong Rock.  

I'm pretty sure there's a Fundamental Law of Life, "Days upon which you see more volcanoes on the trail than people (and safely return home) are by definition most excellent days."

 Took the long trip up to the Tolmie Lookout (for those not paying attention, the road to Mowich Lake is closed for the season at the Paul Peak TH – saw a few cars drive to the closure only to turn around and drive back out again…) – Gaia clocked the day at 14 miles with 2483 ft elevation gain, but it was worth it (I did take the road back the entire way rather than using the Grindstone trail, which added about a mile to my day)! 

 Keep in mind there is snow/ rain in the forecast for this week, so the conditions described here will be changing.

 The road to the Paul Peak TH is snow free and in excellent condition - for that road at least (a little washboarding, some potholes - especially past the park boundary, and the ever-present loose rocks but nowhere near as bad as I've seen in the past). Toilets were clean and well stocked with TP and hand sanitizer (ran into a Ranger checking up on them just as I was heading out – thank you again for your efforts!!).

 While there were sections of the trails that were snow covered, there had been enough traffic on all of them that the trails were well packed and east to follow. Snow depth was also minimal - didn't seem to be anywhere that was higher than about 1.5 inches, and that was rare. I had gaiters with me, but never needed to put them on.

 The walk on the closed road starts out snow free. A bit before the Grindstone Trail turnoff intermittent snow starts. As you continue it eventually become continuous, but never very deep. I didn't find anything on the road deeper than 0.5 inches, and most of it was 0.25 inches or less. The Grindstone Trail is lightly snow covered. There were some patches of ice, and a few more wet patches that are going to become icy with some more sustained cold temps. Nothing too treacherous (today at least).

 The Wonderland Trail from Mowich Lake road to the turnoff for Eunice Lake/ Tolmie Lookout is mostly snow covered, if barely.  From the turnoff for Eunice/ Tolmie to the switchbacks up to Eunice (about 1 mile) the trail only has intermittent snow, mostly just light dusting. As you hit the switchbacks the trail becomes completely snow covered but well packed and easy to follow. Snow depth at the side of the trail seemed to max out around 1 to 1.5 inches. On the way up to Tolmie Peak, where the trail is under tree canopy it is snowy (and well packed) but the exposed set of switchbacks with great views of Rainier and Mount Saint Helens is pretty much snow free.

 I did use spikes for the snowy trail portions on the way down, but only because I am not the nimblest of foot and will take extra traction on snowy downhill when I can get it.  The two other people (yes, only TWO) I saw on the trail didn’t have traction either time I saw them (they passed me on our way up to Eunice Lake and then I ran into them as they were coming down from the lookout).  One of them did mention thinking they needed to put their spikes back on, but they were wearing Air Jordans so… yeah.

 Overall, it was a great day.  Views were incredible, and the general solitude made it that much more special.

July 7th is the estimated date for the opening of the gate to Mowich Lake.    I thought I would see if I could get up to Tolmie Peak Lookout for sunrise and some solitude before the crowds hit in a month.  I also wanted to check out the snow levels around Mowich Lake.

I will break down my trip report for ease of reporting conditions.

Paul Peak TH to Tolmie Lookout TH using Grindstone Trail:  I parked at the PP TH.  The first 2 mi of Mowich Lake Rd to the Grindstone trail was snow free.  Grindstone trail is primarily snow free throughout.  Snow is present when approaching a road crossing.  There was a little mud on the trail as well.  The last portion of the trail just before jumping back up to Mowich Lk Rd has the most snow.  

There is a decent boot path throughout the Grindstone trail making it easy to follow.  Once off of the Grindstone trail and back on Mowich Lk Rd, the short distance to the Tolmie TH is snow covered.  However, I was able to walk the edge of the road for ease of travel.

Tolmie TH to Eunice Lake:  The trail is primarily snow free until just below the Eunice Lake basin.  There are a few snow patches over this 1.6 mi of trail.  Nothing difficult to cross.  I was more stunned by how dry the trail was for this time of year.  Like tinder dry.  One spark in this area and there could be a major problem.

Note:  I checked out Ipsut Pass.  That was snow free as well.

Eunice Lake Basin:  Eunice Lake is still frozen!  Major snow starts about 300 ft below the basin.  The basin snow averages from 4-8 feet.  Navigation or map is needed if you don’t know the area.  This is always a tough area to cross in soft snow.  

I only postholed once.  My entire left leg dropped through.  Never touched the ground.  Wasn’t over a creek.  Guessing it was a tree well.  Hard to tell with so much snow still around the lake.  I was able to recover easily and moved on.  There is the Eunice Lake drainage that normally has a bridge/log for crossing. It is currently under about 6 feet of snow.  If you were to fall through a false snow bridge at this point, it is not a rushing river.  You may get wet. Not super dangerous.  I would worry more about getting too close to the edge of the lake if one gets off trail.  

West end of Eunice Lake up to the lookout:  Once past the lake basin, the trail is snow free on the east facing switchbacks.  After the last switchback or the last 0.3 mi to the lookout, significant snow is present again.  Navigation is needed as I did notice a couple of snow cornices, albeit small, on the west side of the trail.

I enjoyed sunrise and solitude at the lookout before heading back down.  Glacier Peak and Mt St Helens were both visible this morning.  

Mowich Lake Campground:  I decided to swing up to the lake to check conditions.  Mowich Lake has almost completely melted out.  However, like Eunice Lake, there is significant snow around the lake making travel difficult.  The campground is still under 2-3 feet of snow.  The privies are open and stocked.

Mowich Lake CG back to Grindstone trail:  Ughhhh….  This 0.5 mi of Mowich Lk Rd is primarily snow covered for this section. No way around it.  I had to trudge through soft snow from Mowich Lk to the Grindstone trail.

All in all it was a great day.  I did not see a single individual the entire hike!!

I Decided to try to get to the gate for Mowich Lake today. I made it but had to hike the last 1/8 mile. The road is pretty rough right now. Lots of potholes. The first half is the worst. Any vehicle can make it to about 1/8 mile before the Park Boundary if you take it slow. 1/8 mile before the Park Boundary you hit your first snow. Tire tracks are down to the gravel but you'll need about 5 inches of clearance to clear the center snow. The snow is intermittent until a little past the Park Boundary when it gets too deep to continue. There is good parking at the big turnout before the Park Boundary. 

I was hoping to take the Paul Peak Trail down to the Mowich River. There is snow on the trail most of the way to Meadow Creek. When I got to the Meadow Creek log bridge, I found that the bridge is gone. Just down stream from where the bridge used to be there is a large log jam under 5 feet of snow with the creek running freely on the other side. Too dangerous to cross. Hopefully the Park service can drag the old log back into place after the snow melts.