Tolmie Peak Lookout - Eunice Lake — Saturday, Jul. 31, 1999

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

Despite the fact that the Mowich Lake road is still closed at the Paul Peak trailhead, I felt Tolmie calling me. The road is actually in fine shape all the way to the lake, but the parking area at the end is still inundated with the white stuff, so one is forced to make the trek up the hot dusty road (but not for long--look for it to open completely within a week). Luckily, however, a good deal of the road can be bypassed by taking the Grindstone trail (thank you Baily Willis!) which is noted to be unmaintained, but you'd never know it. From Mowich to Eunice Lakes, no snow of any consequence is encountered and one gets a nice view of the Mowich River valley. Once arriving at Eunice, snow finally makes a substantial appearance, but is easily crossed, with my ice axe making no more use than as an ornamental piece on my day pack. Eunice still has large flows of ice lazing upon its surface, but looks to melt out shortly. The remaining mile to the lookout is completely clear with incredible views in all directions for those lucky enough to time it right. Mighty Rainiers' northwest side looms LARGE, St. Helens is seen to the south, Baker to the north, and the Olympics to the west. If one is looking for a degree of solitude, I suggest going within the week before the road reopens (otherwise, go on a weekday, or deal with the masses). Incidently, kudos should go out to the folks at Rainier for their excellent webpage. One minor peeve, however, is that they need to update their trail reports a bit more frequently. The current report lists the trail to Tolmie as being under 75% of snow; its more like 7.5% at this point.