Spray Park, Hessong Rock and Mount Pleasant — Tuesday, Sep. 24, 2024

Mowich Lake Road: requires constant vigilance and care, but passable by any normal car. It took me exactly an hour to drive the 20 miles from Coronado to the trail head.

Parking: Before dawn the main lot was 80% full of overnighters. In the afternoon cars were parked 1/2 mile up the road, but some spots were opening too.

Flora: Lush carpets of green turning autumn red, lots of big mushrooms.

Fauna: a loud but unseen owl; a bear grazing near the trail up to Hessong/Pleasant; a herd of goats; many grey nutcrackers; about 25 humans; no marmots :-(

Route: Spray Park trail up to its max elevation of about 6400 ft, plus some spurs:

• Eagle's Roost (twice—outbound and inbound)
• Spray Falls (also twice)
• Mt. Pleasant
• boot path from 6400 ft toward Echo Rock

Details:
To be clear, I didn't go anywhere near Echo Rock, just took the path in that direction about 1/2 mile. Total for the day was a little over 10 miles and about 2900 feet of climb.

I started at 6 AM, hiking by headlamp. In the pre-dawn forest an owl hooted persistently, and remarkably loudly. It must have been quite near, though I couldn't see it. I wondered if it might be mad and considering sinking its talons into me.

As everyone says, Spray Falls is breathtaking and highly recommended. Just note that getting the best view involves crossing the creek below the falls, requiring good traction, balance, and preferably poles. Today I saw it both in early-morning shadow, and in full afternoon sun; sun is better.

I thank trip reporter DK1998 for the report of 9/21 that brought Hessong Rock/Mt. Pleasant to my attention. The trail, which may also be a seasonal stream bed, is quite rugged but navigable. It goes almost straight up to the saddle between the two peaks, about 400 feet above the flattest part of Spray Park. This is a great place for a snack and expansive views. I could see a herd of about a dozen goats foraging on the very steep rocky slope below East Fay Peak, though they were so small at that distance it took me a while to recognize them.

Gazing at the rocky peak of Mt. Pleasant while snacking, I thought it would be accessible only via some very nasty scrambling, but fortunately I was wrong. There is a reasonable, scramble-free trail that snakes around the other side up to the peak, about 250 feet higher than the saddle, opening the full panorama all the way to Mt. Baker.

Coming down from Pleasant/Hessong requires attention to every step (poles recommended), and I was surprised to glance up at one point and realize there was a bear, perhaps 50 yards off the trail, at exactly my elevation. Just far enough away that the bear, focused on its breakfast, might not have noticed me yet, but close enough to be concerning. My first question was whether this might be part of a family—I really don't want to get involved in bear family dynamics. I looked around and was relieved to see no others. I made some human noises to announce my presence, and it didn't seem either interested or concerned. It did finally look up, straight at me, then went back to its foraging. Because of the steepness and roughness of the trail, and our relative positions, there was no quick way for me to put much more distance between us, and especially to keep an eye on the bear while moving. At least that's my excuse...for taking the time to fumble with my pack, pull out and install my long lens, and shoot some pictures. The bruin continued munching, glancing at me a couple more times before I carefully moved along. By the time I reached the bottom about 15 minutes later, the bear had moved on to someplace I couldn't see.

The rest of the way up the Spray Park trail was uneventful, but beautiful as always. It's hard to beat the variety of interesting terrain it covers, not to mention the constant presence of Mt. Rainier.

Since I started so early, I didn't meet anybody except the bear until I was almost at the farthest point of my hike. But on the way back I passed various parties totaling roughly 25 people, all friendly and courteous. And I was pleased to not see a single bit of litter (I have sensitive litter radar). All in all, a truly outstanding day.