Day Hike - Eunice Lake & Tolmie Peak Lookout

Meet at 9 AM at Wally's Drive-in, 282 WA-410, Buckley, located by the last traffic light at the north end of Buckley.

Wally's Drive-in, our meeting place, opens at 8 AM, services breakfast and has restrooms.  We will consolidate cars at a nearby school parking lot and then caravan on SR 165 to the restrooms by the Park boundary on the Mowich Lake Road.  Any car without a National Park Pass can there purchase a day pass, which may be $35.  Only one pass is required per car, and usually someone in each car has a pass.   From there we continue to the trailhead by Mowich Lake, where a National Park Pass or receipt for the day pass must be displayed by each car.

The trail to Tolmie Peak begins along the north shore of Mowich Lake on a forested portion of the Wonderland Trail that circles Mt. Rainier, continuing along the side of a ridge to Ipsut Pass, where we'll take a rest break, see the nice view of Carbon Glacier and provide an opportunity for a bathroom break at the nearby trail junction.  From there the trail switchbacks up another ridge to an alpine plateau in which Eunice Lake is nestled.  After a short rest break there, we'll continue on an evenly graded trail to Tolmie Peak, our lunch spot.  On the hike back we'll stop for a swim at Eunice Lake, if the weather permits.  We return from there to the trailhead by the route we hiked in.

On the drive home there will be an optional refreshment stop at Wally's Drive-in, which has a 50s theme, good service and good food.  My favorite is the Wallyberry milkshake.