Take a look at the photos, they tell all. https://picasaweb.google.com/114431897981658921755/MountRainierHikeIntoOwyhighLakesTamanosMountain9512

The trail from the Tamanos camp site to Owyhigh lakes is relatively level, which is a good thing because once you reach the trail to Tamanos Mt prepare yourself for a strenuous workout.Ridge You pick up the trail about a quarter mile pass the lakes. A faint trail goes right from the main trail and heads up through meadows. The trail is steep, narrow and dusty. It eventually leads to steep wide open meadows with great views of Governors Ridge, Barrier Peak, Cowlitz Chimneys and Shriner Peak(with binoculars you can see the lookout tower). And then the trail just disappears. At this point all you can do is blaze your own trail heading up to the saddle where you will pick up the trail again. Again the trail vanishes as you get closer to the saddle but reappears again and gets much steeper. I reached the saddle expecting snow on the western slope of the mountain and sure enough there was snow. At the saddle a faint path goes left up to a outcropping. About 25 yards down the snow covered slope I spotted a trail heading up the slope to the ridge. Rather than hike down the slope in the snow to the trail I traversed the snow free portion of the slope using wild game trails which also just vanish without warning. I finally intersected the trail and started up toward the ridge. The trail snaked its way up into a chute that became narrower, steeper and more hazardous with loose rock. When I started creating mini avalanches I decided this was not looking good and turned around and worked my way back to the saddle, went up to the outcropping and ate lunch and enjoyed the views(Sunrise, Burroughs, Summerland, Mt Rainier, Mt Adams etc.) Nice wildflower display along the trail near the lakes. Bugs not a problem.

Set out on the Owyhigh Lakes trail at about 10 AM. Mine was the only car at the trailhead. The trail is mostly through forest and is wide and nice (no blowdowns). The first part heads due east toward an overlook of Shay Creek. I could hear water in the large basin but couldn't see any. The trail switchbacks up from there but is never that steep. The last part heads south to the lakes. It doesn't open up until you are almost at the lakes. There are nice meadows that are still very much in bloom. Most plentiful were paintbrush, valerian, columbine, lupine, mouse on a stick. Near the lakes was a hillside of my personal favorite the magenta paintbrush. The bugs and flies did get thicker at the meadows. The lakes are off trail and I did not go down to them. There are also great views of the Governors Ridge and Needles as well as Barrier Peak beyond the lakes. Earlier reports by viggo and Trail Pair from a few years ago were helpful in finding the climbers path to Tamanos Mountain. The path is on the right (as both of those reports noted) 0.3 miles past the last Owyhigh lake. Look for it as you leave the forest and another cleared area with nice views appears. The path is not marked but it takes off from a cleared sandy area. The path briefly gets faint but you can find it again further up the meadow. It is pretty easy to follow until the upper meadow where I lost it. But above is a saddle, just head up to it. The first views of the Sarvant Glaciers coming off of the Cowlitz Chimneys is from the saddle as well as up close view of Mt Rainier. The path is easily found on the ridge and continue up until the final rocky summit area is reached. Some minor scrambling might be necessary (but I may have lost the path again). The true summit appeared to be the one furthest north. The views were awesome from the summit. Mt's Rainier, Adams, Stuart, Glacier Peak, Goat Rocks, etc etc. The day was pretty much perfectly clear, no clouds or wildfire haze. I decided to try to descend from another path I had read about that came out at Tamanos Creek (I had noticed it hiking in). I followed what I looked like a path from the summit a ways. However, it faded out and I came to a boulder field. I decided to scramble down instead of backtrack. It was a bit of a pain but I came down into a snowy bowl. A little glassading and I came around to a couple of small lakes/tarns not shown on the maps I had. I circled the larger lake. Lots of little frogs there. On the other side I found a faint path that took me down into another chute. Down that and through a small section of forest and I rejoined the main trail at Tamanos Creek campsite. A short walk and I came again to the creek and the other path. I'll have to research this more in the future. From there I hiked out. I really want to come back here and try Barrier Peak, Governor's Ridge etc. The trail to Owyhigh Lakes in is not hard and it accesses some nice peaks and meadows. Interestingly, there were 3 other cars at the trailhead when I returned yet I saw nobody hiking out. Obviously I had missed folks by reconnecting with the trail further down.

Beautiful forest hike to meadows in full bloom. Few bugs. Blustery ridge walk to Tamanos Pk where we watched the clouds envelope Mt. Rainier and pour rain on Sunrise. Fantastic views all around. Gusts so strong, I was almost knocked off my feet at one point. Not much wind once we descended the ridge and entered the forest. Didn't start raining until we reached the cars around 3:30 pm. 10 miles, 3,000 feet gain, about 6 hours round trip. Saw only a few people on the trail within a mile of the trailhead, otherwise had the place to ourselves. I'm looking forward to going back some day with T and S to explore Govenor's Ridge.