Wonderland Trail Day 12: Indian Bar to White River

Aug 20
Mileage: 13.5 miles
Indian Bar: 5120 ft
White River: 4300 ft


I didn't sleep particularly well as I was too wound up about finishing up.  I had set my alarm for 0500 and woke up at 0450, so got up and went up the hill for a facilities visit and to grab the food bag.  I had some tea and breakfast watching the sunrise and it was spectacular!  After that, started packing up and getting ready to go.  Also, I ate another meal and left camp around 0650 leaving my camp neighbors in their slumber.

Indian Bar shelter across

the river with the sunrise

I had to cross the river twice leaving camp once via the bridge the other via over a rock bridge and glad I left early in the day because in the afternoon the river runs higher with the melt-off so those rocks are under water.  I had to look for rock cairns to navigate through some of the river bed and then headed uphill towards the Panhandle Gap not knowing what really to expect up there.  By 0800 it was getting warm and I worked my way uphill and the scenery was really beautiful.  I kept turning around to look towards the south and Mt. Adams and for a while I could look down and see the Indian Bar group shelter.  Finally, I made the ridge and took a break and took a bunch of pictures as all around me were spectacular views.  I kept looking around for the Gap not knowing really what it looked like and kept guessing it was higher up.

Looking southeast to Mt. Adams

Beautiful!

Trail behind me

I kept walking and enjoying the view along the way and finally started a down the trail and crossed a snow field and kept picking up rock cairns to navigate through the area and then started back uphill to the Gap.  I then remembered reading that the PG (Panhandle Gap) had some trees by it and there it was right in front of me.   Finally, I ran into another guy solo hiker, we talked a bit and I told him about the bear.  He was surprised about that!  From that point the trail went up and down and I had to cross another snow field which had no rock cairns so wasn't sure which way to go after crossing it, but found some boot prints and kept moving.  I then had a long climb up to the saddle heading down to Summerland.  I felt good and also felt I was making good time.

Trail heading to the PG

PG in front of me

Trail heading to Summerland

I took some pictures atop the saddle as the views were...no words...I had the mountain to my left, blue lakes with Summerland below me and valleys along with the east Casade Mountains behind me.  About this time, I saw 2 hikers coming up the hill and what do you know, it was the brother and sister with the huge packs that I met on the west side.  Kelly and Doug introduced themselves and we exchanged stories about our trail adventures.  Kelly's pack was much smaller so she must have dumped some stuff somewhere and I told them about the bears.  I asked about camp and they pointed to where it was and mentioned that it was a very steep and rocky descent.  They then departed for the PG and I headed downhill.

No words!

They weren't kidding on the descent, it was all rock and very slow going for me with my knees aching and watching my step so my ankle doesn't roll.  Also, it was hot now and lots of day hikers out and about.  I ran into a foursome that I met on the west side and talked with them and they took a picture of me.  It is nice going CCW as one of the benefits of the direction is seeing people a second time and see how they are doing.  Another benefit is not many people go this way and it is nice to have some space.



Doug had told me to get water before going to camp as there was a stream by the river, so arriving by the bridge to Fryingpan Creek, I dropped the pack and took a break to rehydrate, rest and refill the bladder.  After hitting the trail again, I crossed the logbridge over the creek and the river was high.  The trail was still rocky, downhill and now slick with water.  I just took my time walking to be safe and stopped for pictures frequently.  Finally, the rock gave way to dirt trail and I was never so happy to see a dirt trail as I was at that moment.  My feet and knees were hurting bad and I began to wonder if I could make it to my car some 9.5 miles away.  I crossed small creeks and beautiful wild flowers some that I haven't seen before.  I arrived at the group shelter about 1115 but I didn't care that I walked a mile an hour here as this area is so stunning you have to stop and look or what's the point.

Rainer with Summerland

I dropped my pack and noticed a woman hiking in a dress and she was at Devil's Dream, so another person I've seen twice.  I walked towards the toilet as the toilet here is a solar powered compositing type.  Sitting in the shade was a group of asian women enjoying the lunch of sushi and bento boxes.  I just laughed about the fact that they hiked up here with those things in their packs.  As I walked by they all said hi to me and got all excited about something.  I went back to the shelter and broke out the stove and got some water started for lunch.  I had pulled out a chili with rice meal and got water on it to rehydrate it.  It was really good!


About that time, a guy came into camp and he looked familiar and a few minutes later the woman he was hiking with.  I then remembered meeting them on the west side and the woman starting talking with me remembering me as well for the GPS.  They ended up hanging out with me for an hour or so.  Again we compared notes and they told me that I gave them good info and that I gave the best tips on the trail out of anyone.  That was a nice compliment from someone.  Steph and Dave were from Vancouver, WA and pretty much did the same route as myself except they were going CW.  They asked about my food so I explained to them about dehydrating and making my own meals.  It felt good to sit and eat and take an extended break with my boots off.  After an hour or so, Steph and Dave were leaving and heading towards Indian Bar, so we said our good-byes. (Note to Steph and Dave; I've looked for your blog with no luck, so if you ever read this, email or leave a comment so I can contact you guys)

I got packed and ready to go and then the Asian ladies were all standing by the trail out of camp, so they all wanted to know about my trip.  A few knew English and translated for the rest of the group and they were all amazed I was hiking by myself and the distance I have walked.  They get together to day hike and go somewhere different all the time.  An older lady then came into camp with the Asian ladies all excited about her, so with my 15 minutes of fame up, I bid them good-bye and left camp at 1400.


Distances from this point forward vary and the rangers told me it was 9 miles, so that's what I was expecting with the trail signs showing less.  I left heading downhill in the heat of the day on a full belly feeling good except for my knees ached and my feet sore, but no worries, I was heading home!  I ran into a mother/daughter team out day hiking and talked with them and they took some pictures of me.  The trail went down via switchbacks until the second crossing of Fryingpan Creek and into the cooler forest.  Steph had told me that the trail was wide, very nice and flat in some parts.  She was right and it was a nice hike down but the knees and feet were starting to hurt in a big way and I began to wonder if maybe I should have stayed in camp.  Dayhikers passed me from both directions and finally I made to the junction that heads to White River with the sign reading 2.7 miles.  I was happy with less than 3 miles to go!  I just shook my head as the trail headed uphill.  This part of the trail is new and was completed in 2004, so I wasn't too happy to see any uphill at this point. I came to another junction with a trail sign saying 1.7 miles to White River and more uphill.  I was cussing at this point as I've just hiked all these miles and have to finish hiking uphill!!!


Actually, after this uphill climb the trail leveled out and was very nice and I was hoping to make it to the car in about an hour.  This is the part where the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt like I was being watched hoping it wasn't another bear!  I couldn't take another run-in with a bruin and up the trail I found fresh bear scat on the trail probably an hour old or so.  GREAT!!  I kept looking around and making heaps of noise to scare any potential bears in the hood off.  I also picked up the pace as the GPS showed me less than a mile away!  I was starting to wonder when I would head downhill when the trail headed down just for a little bit and then the trail popped out on the river bed.  Wow, I'm almost done!!!!

Heading out of the forest

to the river bed

White River crossing

I followed the rock cairns and trail to the log bridge and my last river crossing.  This one was the scariest of them all, as the river was really high and fast being late in the day and the log bridge was different from the rest as you crossed one and had to step down onto another.  I took my time and some pictures and walked through the picnic area to my car arriving at 1810.  I had just completed the WLT solo and probably walked 95 miles with the trail detours!!  There was no big celebration, just an urgent need to get my boots off as both my feet were numb.  I dropped my pack, got the boots off and relaxed for a bit.  I had a young lady walking through the parking lot take my picture, post hike celebration complete.  We talked for a bit and she was working a summer job up at Sunrise and had summited Rainier early in the season.

I got cleaned up, changed and packed up the car and left.  It felt weird driving again and I realized how exhausted I really was.  Both my feet felt like ground hamburger and were numb and I was worried about that and wondering why as well.  I drove to Enumclaw and did something I never ever do, stopped at McDonald's and got something to eat I was so hungry.  I sat in the parking lot eating and called both Jim and Dawn to let them know I finished and was on the way home.  


Post-hike

I had the next 3 days off of work and just did post hike recovery by sleeping and relaxing.  I did stretch as much as possible.  I couldn't wear shoes for like 10 days and even went to work with sandals on.
The following week I was back in the gym working out and getting back to my normal routine.

I tried to curb my appetite as I didn't want to eat like I was still on the trail.  Last time I did that, I gained a bunch of the weight back, so wanted to be conscious of my diet this time around.

People often asked me 'was it worth it?' or 'would I do it again?'  My intial responses were, 'not sure' and 'ask me in six months'.  Now after a month, I would answer 'yes' and 'yes' with looking at another go in 2012.

When I arrived back at work, my team of guys had a command post on the wall.   I was really touched.  They had put pins in the map when I arrived at camp and even printed out my SPOT maps for the all the days.  Nothing beats some crew love!!!

I hope you enjoyed this blog of  my journey around the mountain.

Wonderland Trail Day 11: Maple Creek to Indian Bar

Aug 19
Mileage: 10 miles
Maple Creek: 2815 ft
Indian Bar: 5120 ft


I woke up again at first light and got moving this morning as I knew I had a long walk most of it uphill today so I wanted to get an early start.  Also, I wanted to beat the heat of the day as I was going to be exposed to the sun most of the day.  I had breakfast and got packed and ready to go along with the guys next to me.  They got up, packed the tent and left without eating anything and that is something I couldn't do as I need my energy.  I left camp quietly at 0700 as the other in camp were still sleeping, heading towards Box Canyon which was some 2 miles away setting a 1 hour goal.  I wanted to make Nickel Creek 3.3 miles away by 0900.

The hike started out flat to the river crossing and then the trail started uphill to Box Canyon.  The climb wasn't too bad and the morning started to heat up.  I arrived at Box Canyon around 0800 keeping the pace I wanted to.  The trail turned into cement for the tourist so that was kind of nice for a little bit.  I had never been to Box Canyon so it was pretty cool to see the Cowlitz River run through it as well to see what the river had carved out.  There were no people there at 0800 so I had the place to myself, sweet!  I took my time looking around and taking some pictures.

Stevens Creek

Box Canyon & the Cowlitz River;

Bridge to water, 115 ft

Box Canyon with the 

road bridge

Getting on the trail again and heading uphill to Nickel Creek through a forest and crossed Nickel Creek.  I wanted to stop and have a bottle of water with a Nuun tablet in it.  I was feeling dehydrated already, but wanted to go to camp too so I arrived at camp at 0900.  I took a break there and wanted to get water, but found out from some guys in camp that I had to hike back to the creek and I didn't want to walk backwards, so didn't go.  I had a snack and started back on the uphill climb to Indian Bar.



I met a couple of older men on the trail heading to Maple Creek, so we talked for a few about the trail and the campsites.  They told me I was in for a treat once I got to the top of this climb and that Indian Bar was really beautiful.  I told them about Maple Creek and they were in the forest for the rest of their hike.  After I left them, an older man and then an older women with her granddaughter passed me from behind on a day hike to Indian Bar and they were all moving pretty fast.



I made it to the top and started climbing up some more but I was in the open and finally could view some scenery and it was beautiful.  I turned around and I saw Mt Adams to the south, that was cool!  At one point, I heard a jet engine and knew that noise, it was a Mcchord C-17 flying overhead and I got a picture of it.  I'm guessing they were coming from the Yakima area since they were flying low level.  That was cool and unexpected.  I stopped under a tree for a break and a break from the heat.  The black flies were out in full force bugging the hell out of me.  You try to ignore them, but some of them little bastards started biting me.  The wild flowers were beautiful and the scenery gorgeous especially to the east and south.



There were times where Rainier would be visible and it was breath taking to see it especially after my first 8 days.  I was hoping to find a creek or some water but so far, nothing.  There were some flat meadows and a few downhills along the way and this area started making up for the first part of the trip.  Funny how a moment in time can make the past seem irrelevant or just flat out move your soul and I was having one of those moments.  My camera cannot do this area any justice!

Beyond words

There have been times in my life that scared the crap out of me most of it having to do with flying until today.  I was walking along ridge line about 2.2 miles S/SE out of Indian Bar with a slope to my right and an uphill climb through a field of wild flowers via switchbacks on my left. The only bear reports I heard of were at Mystic Lake and that was way behind me.  I was minding my own business and all of a sudden I hear this pounding of weight with growling noise come flying down the hill at me.  I damn near jumped out of skin and looked to the left to see a blur of cinnamon colored fur going flying by me.  I froze knowing it was a bear, but didn't see it and couldn't hear it and I was looking all around trying to find it.  I didn't know if I had walked upon a mom and her cub or what, but I was way scared as I knew it was close.  The black bears in the park are benign and there are no documented cases of black bears attacking humans in the park, but that doesn't mean anything.




I was standing on the first switchback making noise, banging my hiking sticks and talking out loud to scare the bear as the rangers suggested but didn't see or hear anything, so I had no idea where it was or went.  Also, I didn't see a bear run back up the uphill and the only thing I heard was my heart pounding in my head.  I slowly headed up the switchbacks making noise and taking my time keeping my head on a swivel here.  I got to the last switchback that headed to the meadow, so started to walk and about step 2, I heard a snorting noise and froze in mid-stride.  There about 5 feet from me was a juvenile male bear with his butt towards me eating flowers.  I banged my sticks and we both jumped as he swung around to face me.  Again, I banged my sticks trying to look bigger and started yelling at the bear to GO.  He didn't and stood there looking at me.  I got a picture figuring it was proof and if he got me, the rangers would know what bear to look for.  I started a mental self-assessment, thinking that I couldn't run as I had a pack on, the bear can run up to 35 mph, climb trees higher and faster than I could say it and I was born a slow white woman, so this was definitely a lose-lose situation.  At the same time, I'm looking around for the other bear that came down the hill.  The bear turned and faced me head on, crap now what do I do?!!!!

This is one of those weird moments in my life as I'm standing here talking with a bear trying to keep the moment lite and you are told is not to look a bear in the eye as they take it as a challenge.  I asked the bear what he was going to do, and looking at him I could almost hear him say, " Lady, you are in my space, interrupting my lunch, DO YOU MIND, so get lost!  I apologized to the bear for interrupting his lunch and asked for permission to move on.  The bear then laid on his left side and continued to eat his flowers.  I side stepped past him and kept walking.  Holy shit!!!!  I can't believe that just happened to me!  About 20 minutes later when the adrenaline wore off, I bent over breathing heavy.  To quote my friend Brian, "You step off the cement, you are now part of the food chain".   I kept thinking, first I get a mountain goat following me up the trail over in the Olympics and now this!  Can I see a marmot please?

The walk through the meadows were spectacular and the mountain views were beyond words.  Walking on your feet can most certainly take you to some great places.  Heading uphill some more, I was stopped under a tree for a shade break and the older lady and her grand daughter came down and we stopped to chat for a few minutes and she asked me if I had seen the bears.  Uh, yeah I did and it didn't seem to be a big deal to her.  She told me up over that ridge I would start heading down to camp and they left.  So I finished climbing up and then started my 1800 ft decent into camp.  It was about this time I ran out of water and was not happy about that.

Camp ahoy!

The decent down was steep and tough on the knees after a long day and some people were now coming up and were breathing pretty hard.  I finally made it to camp and saw a stream to my left by the group shelter and a bridge to my right.  This guy came from the bridge and asked him if this was the place to get water and he said yeah and that the individual sites were to my right.  I thought he was a hiker but found out later, he was part of a trail crew working at the camp.  I dropped my pack and sat by the creek to rehydrate for a while and it was really hot now.  I was curious about the group shelter but wanted to go check out the camp sites first.  The bridge was missing a side of railing so you needed to pay attention so you wouldn't fall in the Ohanapecosh River and the Wauhauhaupauhen Falls, which were really loud.

The camp is built on a hill and I started looking around and I was the only one in camp again.  I chose site #2 but didn't want to sit there as it was very open with no tree cover.  I grabbed my water filter and some snacks and headed back to the creek.  I filled my bladder up along with my bottle and went into the group shelter which was bigger inside than I thought and also much cooler inside.  I was wondering where the guys went that I saw sitting here and were wondering if they were staying at the group shelter.  Finally, they came back and then I found out they were trail crew.  I told them about the bear and told them I may just stay in the group shelter if I'm the only one here and I wouldn't have to set up my tent.  One of them said I had a good chance of staying there but if someone else came and had the site on their permit I would have to move.  They left and I went and got my stuf2f to move it to the group site since it was already 1730 and nobody else had shown up.

Group Shelter at Indian Bar

I was nervous about staying here figuring someone would show up late and I'd have to move in the dark.  I had lunch and dinner, cleaned up but really never unpacked in the event someone did show up.  Two guys showed up but went to the individual sites and didn't come over to where I was.  I just hung outside in the shade enjoying the stunning beauty of this area with the sun setting upon it.  It got to be about 2000 and I decided to risk it, so put the food on the pole and started to unpack.  My original thought was to just pull out the sleeping bag and sleep on one on the bunks in the shelter, but then the mosquitoes came out and I heard some mice scurrying about.  I set up the tent in the shelter to get away from the bugs.  It was fun just to set up the tent that way and to sleep in the shelter.  On the other hand, no cross breeze.  About 2100, some Russian guy stuck his head in the shelter asking about a camp site, so told him how to get over there.  No one else came to camp, so that was good for me.

The view from my front porch

I wanted to get up a 0500 and head up to the Panhandle Gap before the heat and the trail crew guy told me it should take a couple of hours to get up there.  I went to sleep knowing this was my last night and that I had a big long day in front of me as I decided to not stay at Summerland and finish up the WLT a day early.