Owyhigh Lakes, Tamanos Mountain — Tuesday, Jul. 25, 2023

We had a great hike to Owyhigh Lakes and Tamanos Ridge today.  After reading several trip reports both on WTA and All Trails several bear sightings were mentioned in the last 2 weeks. We hoped to have a bear sighting but no such luck today.  It was overcast and 48 degrees when we pulled up to the trailhead on Sunrise Park Drive inside Mt Rainier National Park at 9:15. We were geared up and hiking by 9:30.  No cars were at the trailhead when we pulled up.  There is no toilet facility here so plan to use the facilities at the park entrance or Green Door.  After the overnight rain the trail duff was slightly soggy in open areas but completely dry under the forest canopy.  We had to step over or go around only 4 downed trees on our entire route up to Tamanos.  All were easy to negotiate.  Wildflowers start when you first step the trail - twin flower, pipsissewa and sidebells wintergreen line the trail on the first few switchbacks.  The vanilla leaf and corral root in this section have faded.  The real wildflower show starts as you enter the meadow before Owyhigh Lakes.  Lupine, Anemone (Mouse on a Stick), paint brush, bistort, arnica, spirea, lousewort, valerian, Columbine and false hellebore keep looking better the further you continued to walk towards the meadow at the bottom of the Tamanos ridge. Trail traffic was super light we saw only 2 groups of 2 the entire day. If you want solitude on a Rainier trail this would be a great option.  We arrived up at Tamanos  Ridge just before 1:00 after stopping for many floral and scenery photo ops along the way.  There were no Rainier views today and we were in and out of the clouds during our lunch rest break.  We all started to chill down quickly so add fleece and puff layers so we could enjoy our lunches without freezing. Wildlife sightings included 3 marmots, several chipmunks and squirrels, a lone mountain goat, a grouse with 4 chicks, and a couple robins and juncos.  One other couple arrived up on Tamanos when we started our descent at 1:40.  Temperatures slightly warmed up to 58 degrees when we arrived back to the trailhead at 4:15.  Another fantastic day out in nature with friends.