Mileage: 10.2 miles
Mowich Lake: 4900 ft
Golden Lakes: 5130 ft
I woke up at 0600 and it was still raining and its interesting how you adapt out here going to bed at dusk and waking up at the first crack of dawn. I rolled over and went back to sleep for a little bit and finally got up as I knew I had a long day with a heavy pack full of resupply.
I had 2 guys next to me car camping and said they were heading to Oregon to fish and another guy on the other side heading CW. It had finally stopped raining and the skies cleared out a bit. I went to get water at the lake and as I was pulling out my water filter my bottle adapter went flying in a part of the creek off the lake, filled up the bottle and bladder and went to get my hiking pole to fish it out and did that with no difficulty.
Mowich Lake
I had breakfast and starting packing up hoping to get out of camp by 0830-0900 and it was very nice to have a picnic table there even wet for packing and eating. I was almost packed sans the tent and what do you know, the skies cleared and the sun came out! I ran over to it, just to feel it and felt better. Funny how a little sun can change your attitude and disposition! Ran back over to the tent and grabbed it to put in the sun to dry out. It stayed out for about 45 minutes until the fog rolled back in, so one of the car camping guys came over to talk some more and I asked him if he had a spare tent stake, he did and gave me one. I was very grateful and offered him a few bucks but he declined.
I finally left camp very late at 1015 much later than I wanted to, but I got a chance to dry some stuff out and figured it was a good trade. Headed downhill with the rain gear on and I have to admit this pack was heavy as I had 5 days of food in it. I ran into some thru-hikers and we chatted about the trail and the rain. Most of them were going via Seattle Park.
WLT heading down to river
Banana Slug enjoying the trail
I got down by the river and was overheating, so stopped to take off the rain gear. I was a little anxious about crossing both Mowich Rivers as they tend to run high and take out the bridges. I got across the North Mowich River safely and you cannot get complacent during a crossing because if you fall in, you're done!
North Mowich River
I stopped at South Mowich River campground at the group shelter to have a snack when reflecting back on this should have broke out the stove and ate lunch. A ranger named Paul showed up, looked at my permit and we ended up eating together. He was heading up to Golden Lakes as well. We talked about being a ranger and I asked him what the ranger GS pay grade scale was. He told GS-5-7 and that made me hack some. Wow, I would have thought higher for all that they do out there. I realized an hour went by and jumped up to get going. As I was leaving camp a fog rolled in and it started to drizzle.
South Mowich River
Back on the track to cross the South Mowich and stopped to put on the rain gear again. I made it across and started up the hill to Golden Lakes. This climb is insane with something like 32 switchbacks on it. The climb itself is gradual but the switchbacks are very long. It seemed like I was hiking from one end of the hill to the other. I ran into a few hikers coming down but really didn't see many people today.
I stopped to take off the rain pants as I was overheating again but left on the jacket. I finally made it to the ridge and the sun was out! Wow!!! I knew I had about 2 miles to camp and the ridge was flat to rolling and I was walking as fast as I could to make camp to let the sun dry the tent. Sunset Park was beautiful with small lakes and I was hoping site #4 was still available, but knew it probably wasn't since it was getting late.
Ridge looking west
Sunset Park
I arrived at the ranger hut in front of the lake and campsite at 1830 and I kid you not, it starts to thunder. I found site #4 occupied along with #5, so headed back to look for a spot when it starts to downpour and the temperature starts to plummet. I found #1 & #2 vacant about the time the skies opened up and let loose. I found a tree at site #1 to huddle under, got the rain pants on and pretty much lost it at this point. Then it starts to hail! Site #1 was starting to flood since it was downhill of everything else, so I ran to site 2 to dig a trench where the previous tenant had the night before and I started going off. I'm sure my site neighbors heard me just a cussing and probably thought a sailor was moving in next door! At one point I screamed at the sky, "Is that all you got?" and "Can I just get an hour to dry out?" You can add in the F-bombs on your own.
I got the tent up and noticed again the symptoms of hypothermia coming on and I was freezing cold. I had a decision to make, get water, eat and settle camp for the night or get in the tent and get warm. Looking at my options here, site #2 had very little tree cover so to try and stand outside to cook was going to be hard. Additionally, I needed water so a trip to the lake during a torrential rain storm was out. I didn't want to cook and eat in the tent as I didn't need a bruin visit during the night, so I crawled in my sleeping bag with layers on trying to get warm. Once in the tent, it took me a couple of hours to get warm and debated whether this was the right decision. I went to sleep on an empty stomach and along with being dehydrated it really soured my mood. The thought of quiting at this point dominated my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep with the rain and wind beating against my tent.
The view from site #4 the next day
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