Washington Cascades - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 348

From Mowich Lake, one extremely popular trail heads south and passes Spray Falls
on its way to Spray Park , flush with wildflowers late in the summer. It's almost 3 miles
to Spray Park, but with numerous steep switchbacks above the falls the trail is far from
easy.
Sleeping
Ipsut Creek Campground CAMPGROUND$
( 360-829-5127; campsites with wilderness camping permit free; year-round, weather permit-
ting) This free campground is at the end of the Carbon River Rd and has 12 campsites
and one group site. There are pit toilets but no drinking water. Ipsut currently has no road
access; walk-ins only.
Information
Carbon River Ranger Station & Wilderness Information Center ( 8:30am-4pm May-
Nov, 7:30am-7:30pm Jun-Aug) Come here to pick up permits for backcountry camping and
for north-side climbs. Note that, after closure since 2006, Carbon River will not reopen
to vehicles and will be maintained as a foot and mountain-bike trail.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Crystal Mountain
Just outside the northeastern corner of Mt Rainier National park lies Crystal Mountain
Resort ( www.skicrystal.com ; ) , Washington's largest ski area, 39 miles east of Enum-
claw off Hwy 410. This is the state's only ski 'resort' with various overnight accommod-
ations at the base. However, in reality, Crystal still functions primarily as a day-use area
due to its relative proximity to Seattle and Tacoma. The mountain's 2600 acres, first
opened in 1962, have an incredible array of terrain including some wonderful backcoun-
try. In winter 2010 it opened the state's first gondola. Daily lift passes are $78/67 per
adult/child (with gondola).
WHITE PASS
Long considered the smaller, quieter sibling of Crystal Mountain, White Pass
( www.skiwhitepass.com ) ski area, 50 miles west of Yakima on US 12, was expanded in