Preface: This was the oddest trip! Read to trip.
Road: If it hasn't already been said, Yikes! I've never seen Mowich Lake road as bad as it was today. I wouldn't recommend anything but a junk car you plan to get rid of in a month driving on that.
Entrance: We were met by a park ranger at Mowich Lake on foot who immediately asked for our pass. When I showed my geezer pass, he softened a bit and asked me to put it on my dash.
Bathrooms: Were super clean smelling for pit toilets.
General Trail: Pretty fall colors contrast with the blues of Mowich Lake. The trail is rough, rocky with a few slippery roots.
Weather: Normally you have nice views of Tahoma but the day started with fog and layers of clouds lifting and pushing up which obscured the mountain, very beautiful.
Odd Trip: Reaching Eunice Lake we stopped for a snack and explored a bit along the ridge prior to the short climb to Tolmie Peak. At the fire lookout around 1:30, we kept hearing a repeated male voice yelling and then gunshots, three in a row. The yelling continued. At first we thought it was a group along Evan's Creek having a party but determining the voice was single and it didn't move we started to wonder whether it was a hurt hiker around Paul Peak trail head. Around 2:00 pm we could distinctly hear, "Help, I Need Help, Help." Repeatedly. We were too far out at least (4 miles) to help right away so decided to find someone with a cell signal at the lookout that could call 911. Of the eight of us at the lookout we all agreed we heard the same distressed hiker call out in the same general vicinity. The 911 call did make it through.
At some point we heard another male voice call down, still very far away from each other, "Do you need help?" The hiker seemed to quickly response again from the same area, not quite audible.
We returned to Mowich Lake around 4 pm and couldn't find a ranger but saw a park vehicle. We headed to the patrol cabin that was locked up. We looked around the campground for a ranger.
Checking at Paul Peak for any cars still in the parking area there was no one so we assumed help was received.
Still a magical day in the clouds. If anyone reads this and knows what happened, let us know. We are still wondering.
7.75 miles 1700' gain
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