Circumventing Mt. Rainier on the Wonderland Trail

Well, it's been much too long since I've posted to this blog ... WAY TOO LONG!  Life is busy and only getting busier but I am going to try to find more time to post at least occasionally!  Without further ado ...

One of the coolest life adventures to date was to go around Mt. Rainier in September, 2011.  I'd already achieved the summit many years ago so now I guess it was time for me to go around Rainier right?!?  My hiking amigo, Gene, and I actually planned this trip reasonably well; we had food cached, reasonable hiking distances, and all the necessary gear to cover the 6 day, 92 mile clockwise walk around the raddest mountain in the Pacific Northwest, if not the World.

About to take the first Wonderland Trail steps

Day 1 (14.7 miles):  The Elder Bero (Dad) escorted Gene and I to the White River Ranger's Station to get our permits then to hit the trail.  Surprisingly at whatever ungodly time it was that morning there was another hiker, a single young lady, in line getting her permit too and taking her sweet time!  Gene and I were chomping at the bit to get the day started but were waiting for Ms. Chatty to move along.  :)  Finally, we got our permits, and after a  few ceremonial pictures we took our first steps on the trail just a few miles south of the White River Campground on the North-East section of the Wonderland Trail.

Dad and Brent at Panhandle Gap

Dad joined Gene and I on the first segment of the trail which unexpectedly turned out to be some of the best trail of the entire trip.  This area is called Summerland and it is G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S.  A slight incline took us up the Fryingpan Creek bed to amazing views of Mt. Rainier.  We made quick work of the trail gaining the Summerland rock house then Panhandle Gap by lunch; along the way Dad used his super-human vision to point out bear and other big game to us.  If he were on the whole trip with us I bet we would have seen a lot more game!

At Panhandle Gap, we at lunch together then said farewell to Dad.  He headed back to car while we we just beginning our long journey.  More expansive views and perfect weather accompanied us along the way to Indian Bar.  The Summerland / Indian Bar portion of the hike is the portion that I most want to hike again - hopefully sometime soon.

Amazing views on the way to Indian Bar.

We saw some mountain goat on the way down from Panhandle Gap to Indian Bar.  After Panhandle Gap, there were very few hikers and it felt like we were off all on our own.  The afternoon went by slowly as we really dug into the hike and made our way through some up-and-down terrain to the Nickle Creek campground.

Looking back at Rainier from above Indian Bar; this is a Lord of the Rings like view right!?!  Insane.

I'm pretty sure we were the only group at Nickle Creek that night - after a good day's hike it really made little difference but it did drive home the point that we were out in the wilderness and were somewhat alone.

Indian Bar Shelter

Day 2 (18 miles):  From Nickle Creek, we continued the Wonderland past Box Canyon (Port-O-Potties!) along some overgrown trail through Steven's Canyon towards Louise Lake.  On our way, we say a Black Bear and cub at just 50 or 75 yards away scampering away - I think Gene soiled himself.  :)  Then, shortly after that, we ran into an interesting solo hiker.  He was an older guy, probably in his 50's and he'd been out hiking in Rainier National Park for 17 or so days, mainly in terrible stormy weather all by himself.  I love the outdoors but I don't think I'd ever want that experience, especially by myself.  He was enjoying the last couple days of sunshine though.  As a side-note, the weather during our hike was ideal, no significant rain for 6 straight days, yet it rained hard the night before our trip and the night after our trip.  Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good!

Green Day! Crazy Solo Hiker dude took this picture

 We continued and came across the Reflection Lakes - which are really, really awesome and I recommend everyone to visit here - a road passes nearby.  Then, on the way from the Reflection Lakes to Longmire Gene and I ran into another unforgettable character.  As we descended some thick trail, we heard some rustling about 10 yards off the trail.  We came upon a solo woman who who had on some kind of butcher's apron and possibly I imagined a machete in her hands because she was scary!  She said she'd been out in the wilderness for nearly 30 days but had only traveled a total of 50 miles; she had been spending the majority of her time meditating in nature and was almost ready to rejoin society.  Whew, that was weird; we pushed on with all of our appendages.

Reflection Lakes - Wow!

Nisqually River Crossing

Soon we were in familiar territory near Narada Falls and Longmire.  At Longmire (running water!  bathrooms!) we took lunch, a break, and retrieved our first food cache.  The end of day two was a tough climb up to Pyramid Camp.  One boot in front of the other ...

At Pyramid Camp, Gene made his famous spam and pasta which was ridiculously delicious since we'd only been eating dried fruit and trail mix for 2 days.

That evening there was another group in Pyramid Creek who we chatted with.  It was a couple about our age and the guy worked at Bungee and was working on all the designs of the vehicles for some new video game.  They seemed pretty cool and their hiking plan had them at the same camp in a couple days so we looked forward to chatting with them again.  They must've had trouble keeping the pace because we never did see them again ...  hopefully the butcher lady didn't catch up with them!

Day 3 (15.7 miles): In the hiking groove now, Gene and I were up early and hitting the trail at first light.  Today though would be in my opinion the most difficult day of hiking considering the elevation and that we were in the very middle of the hike - the newness had wore off slightly and we still had a long, long way to go.  Physically we were tired and mentally we needed to stay focused.  Also, this part of the trail was extremely deserted and we saw only 1 or 2 other hikers all day.

Indian Henry Patrol Cabin

From Pyramid Creek we made our way to Indian Henrys Hunting Grounds which was an awesome alpine meadow and came across an empty Patrol Cabin up there.  There were some great views at the alpine meadow, lots of wildflowers, green fields, and views of Rainier through the clouds.  Also, we were about halfway around the Wonderland at this point and we ran into the young lady who was in front of us in line at the check in ranger's station on day 1.  She was going around counter-clockwise and was making remarkable time.  Impressed.

There was some rugged terrain on this side and we passed very close to our first glacier of the trip, the Tahoma.  Emerald Ridge provided grand views despite Rainier veiled in the clouds.

The glacial debris of the retreating Tahoma Glacier

We arrived at our destination for the day, the North Puyallup Camp, in good time and yet again we were completely alone.  I had not spent much time on the west side of Rainier but quickly learned that it is the lonely side of the mountain.  Also, there are thicker, more dense forests which makes the trail more secluded.  Gene and I went through our nightly ritual of eating & preparing dinner, freshening up with a moist body wipe (essential piece of geaer!), preparing the next day's water, and squaring off in some spirited Magic the Gathering battles!  :)  Haha - Thanks Gene for teaching me Magic, now I have achieved "Super Nerd" status!

Brent at the North Puyallup, in good spirits and memorable scenery at the end of day 3!

Day 4 (15.2 miles):  Five minutes out of camp, one of the coolest things on the trip happened.  We were out really early in the dark forest at a time when the night had not yet completely given over the sky to the morning.  In the early light a big adult owl came swooping down the trail directly at us and just past our heads.  The owl's orange eyes glowed as it silently swooped through the air.  It was spectacular and a fitting way to start the day which was basically a long walk through a mysterious, scary forest.  The trees were dense and huge with frisbee-sized, occasionally neon-colored fungi coming off tree trunks from a few feet off the ground to a hundred of feet up the trees.  Through the forest we went towards another high alpine meadow area called the Golden Lakes, named as such for their golden colored reflection at sunrise and sunset.  From here, we experienced a long descent to the South Mowich River.  Gene and I entertained ourselves by trying to name every single student in our senior class at Bellarmine Prep - Out of the 220 or so classmates I think we named well over half, not bad!  It was a good way to pass the time as we exited the scary mushroom forest.

Clearly this is the scary mushroom forest!

Crossing the South Mowich River in the mid afternoon, Gene and I saw people again after what seemed like a couple days.  We had a snack and then ended the day with a grueling 3.4 mile, very steep trudge up to Mowich Lake.  A tuna-powered Gene doinated this section and I was doing my best to keep him in sight.  The tuna-boost was insurmountable though as he left me in the dust here.  I was NOT tuna-powered so maybe that explains my performance.

At Mowich we retrieved our last food cache from the bear box at the Patrol Cabin and set up camp.  Successful, long day - only two days left!



Day 5 (13.2 miles): Day 5 was one of our shortest distance days but also had two of the most grueling ascents, one up to Spray Park and the second up to Mystic Camp.  At Mowich, there is a choice presented to the Wonderland hiker to continue to descent towards the Ipsut Creek Campground or to ascend Spray Park.  Gene and I chose the later, shorter route to stay closer to Mt. Rainier; we were rewarded with some pristine hiking and great panoramic views.

Spray Falls

Shortly out of Mowich we went slightly off the trail to check out Spray Falls.  I nearly had to rescue Gene who tried to cross the raging stream below the falls to get to the other side for a better photo op.  It was a good excursion from the trail.  Then, we made the climb up to Spray Park.  It was a really nice area with some great views and another perfect high alpine meadow.  Some bugs up there but those are expected!  After Spray Park was a steep descent to the Carbon River crossing; on the way we ran into the first rangers we'd seen on the trail and they checked our permits.  It's amazing how popular Mt. Rainier is yet how few people we saw during the trip; the only "busy" spots were Longmire and Sunrise.

Rainier from Spray Park

 
The Carbon River crossing is over a really long suspension bridge, followed by the steepest portion of the Wonderland trail up past Dick Creek.  We had this section during the early afternoon and baked in the sun as we made our way up the trail alongside the Carbon Glacier.  Sweat poured out of me and I was happy to make it to the high alpine meadow with some shade as we approached Mystic Lake and Mystic Camp, our destination for the night.  There were a handful of other campers in Mystic.  Our last day was on tap so we got a good night's rest after our ritual of making dinner, preparing water, freshening up, and Magic The Gathering for entertainment.

The Carbon Glacier

Day 6 (14.7 miles):  Last day!  Gene and I made great time, our packs were light with less food as we made our way past the Winthrop Glacier to Skyscraper Pass (awesome) and the Burroughs Mountains.  There were lots of people, mainly day-hikers, as we came within a few miles of Sunrise; it was a nice change from the uninhabited trail we were accustomed to.  Again, we had great weather and kept a steady pace.  We had originally planned to stop at Sunrise for some prepared food at the Visitor's Center kitchen, but we had plenty of supplies and were making great time, so we just used the Visitor Center bathrooms and contacted Dad for our return ride.

I did a good job making Gene look like a giant in this picture
from Skyscraper Pass!

We continued on to the steep descent from Sunrise to the White River Campground which Gene and I had done 10+ years earlier during a grueling 23 mile jaunt that included the Mt. Fremont Lookout and the Owyhigh Lakes.  Once we made it to the White River Campground it was a quick 1.5 mile flat stroll to our starting point and had completed the trail by mid-afternoon, earlier than expected.  It was awesome to see that starting sign again.   We waited for Dad to show up, munching on our leftover snacks, re-aquainting ourselves to not wearing a 40 pound pack, and reveling in the accomplishment. What a great feeling!

More Wonderland Trail Pictures (Brent's Picasa)

We're there man! Sporting our Victory Red!

Brent's Best of Wonderland:
Best Trail Food: Spicy Dried Mangos, Gene's Famous Spam Pasta
Best Camp: Mystic Camp
Best Section of Trail: Summerland / Indian Bar
Next Best Sections of Trail: Golden Lakes, Spray Park
Best way to pass the time: Continue walking!
Best Views: Summerland, Reflection Lakes
Best piece of gear: Indestructible Spork/Knife Combo, odor-absorbing boxer briefs
Best encounters on the trip: The Medidating Butcher Lady, Counterclockwise Solo Hiker Girl, Black Bear and Cub, Bungee Couple
Most Unexpected: The Scary Mushroom Forest, perfect weather
Interesting Fact: Only a couple hundred people complete the Wonderland Trail every year while around 10,000 attempt to summit Mt. Rainier.

The Wonderland

Wonderland Trail Profile Map with a cumulative 22,000 ft. of elevation gain, and of course the accompanying 22,000 ft. of elevation loss!