The 16-mile forest road is in pretty good shape for what it is. I managed to miss any chuck holes, that may have existed, but there was no way to miss the washboard feeling.
I was lucky enough to get a close-up parking spot around 7:30 am on a Sunday. By 8 am I was starting my hike. I finished just before 8pm, hence I spent the entire day in Spray Park. Like Aline Wanderer's post on Spray Park, I hiked 12.3 miles and gained around 2800 feet in altitude. I did go up toward Observation Rock but stop short when I needed to climb up rocks. In my younger days, the rocks would not have been a problem, but now, my eye site is not as good as it should be, and I knew that going back down would be very slow.
Bears: sometimes when in Spray Park, I spot bears. I did stop often and looked for them, but did not see even one. They are around but not every day can they be seen.
Flowers: this is the time of year to see lots of flowers. This year they were hit and miss. I did find some patches of nice flowers but not like in past years. The best flowers were paintbrush, lousewort, and even lupin. The lupine were found at the far end of the park.
Spray Falls: as noted Alpine Wanderer's trip report by someone else, the stream crossing did not look to be too hard now. I did not cross it, myself, however. The falls should not be missed for a first timer to the park.
I usually post around 40 pictures on my Facebook page. A link is provided for this hike.
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