After sleeping in my Avalanche pseudo RV at Mowich Lake, my daughter and I got a not so alpine start at 10 AM and set out for Spray Park and our objectives for the day: Hessong Rock (6385') and Mt Pleasant (6454'). Fine cool weather continued and soon enough we gained the informal trail that led to the saddle where we would access both peaks. I had been at the saddle a few years before and my recollection of an expansive view towards the mountain with all of Spray Park below was refreshed. No need to drop packs today as we were lightly burdened with day packs, so we set off on the northwest side of Hessong to scramble to the peak. I have a very nice Leica wide angle 8-18 lens for my Panasonic G9 but nothing can do justice to the massive view from this peak. We spent a fair amount of time here, even going to the adjacent peak to make sure we were on the actual summit (we were). Finally wrenching ourselves away on this perfect day, we went back to the saddle and headed over to Mt Pleasant. The informal trail to this peak is obvious and easy, and shortly we were on the summit. With the exception of a few trees in the foreground, the view from Pleasant is equally impressive.

*Expansive view from the summit of Mt Pleasant (6454')*

In looking straight off the peak towards Rainier, there seemed to be an easy way to exit on a gentle ridge and intersect with the trail leading to Knapsack Pass. This plan panned out and we were happy to do this alternate way back to Mowich and stay off the well traveled Spray Park trail. With the exception of finding the "hop on" point for the rocky trail leading to Knapsack, the rest of the afternoon was spent in solitude and alpine meadow splendor, paralleling an idyllic creek on the descent. We had plenty of time to soak our feet, splash crystal water on our faces and pick sweet blueberries along the way. We were back at the vehicle with lots of light left to linger around the lake and try to stay awake until dark. We were successful on at least one count.

Stats: 8 miles/2900'

*A bit of reflection in a tarn on the route towards Knapsack Pass*

*Hint of fall with Mowich Lake in the background*