These posts will cover all the areas I'm visiting in the confines of Mt. Rainier National Park in celebration of 35 years exploring here, including new places with a smattering of old. This and the next 3 posts included trips with my daughter while she was here on vacation.

This Thursday was the day we would depart Mowich and return home. The weather was cool but rather cloudy and we wondered if we would have a white out repeat of views from the Tolmie lookout akin to Gobblers Knob. When we departed there were patches of blue amidst the clouds, but upon arrival at Eunice Lake the clouds descended to water level and Tolmie lookout above disappeared in the mist. Not encouraging.

*Eunice Lake from Tolmie trail after clearing skies*

As we ascended the trail to Tolmie the skies seemed to get lighter and eventually opened up between layers to afford some views upon arrival. There were a few people at the lookout so we continued on the ridge to tag Tolmie Peak proper (5920'). Our original plan was to also scramble over to Howard, but my daughter was stung by a bee on the way up and her shoe was rubbing against the aching spot. Howard will wait. Most of our time was spent on Tolmie Peak in solitude but we returned to the lookout and stayed for a bit, snapping pix and taking in the limited but still wide ranging views.

The return trip was on easy trail and gave us plenty of time to pack up and be home well before dinner, capping off our 4 day stay in the Mowich Lake part of the hill. Not to mention I got to cross off another trail I hadn't stepped foot on. When I wrote in a forum that this was the first time I had been to Tolmie after 35 years of hiking in the park, one response was "you gotta get out more." Agreed.

Stats: 8.5 miles/2000'