Wonderland Trail Day 6: Golden Lakes to Klapatche Park

Aug 14
Mileage: 7.8 miles
Golden Lakes: 5130 ft
Klapatche Park: 5515 ft

The human body is amazing as it can endure demanding physical activity day after day and come out of in good condition.  However, what throws a wrench into the grand plan is the mental state along with its by-product, emotion.  These 2 things just screw everything up and get in the way.  Physically I felt fine, mentally and emotionally I had hit my breaking point.  I was miserable, tired of the rain, gray skies, humping up and down with no views and the rangers telling me today was the day the sun was coming out!

I woke up once again to rain and it just weighed on me.  Everything I had was pretty much soaked.  Sure, I had pack cover and had things in plastic bags, but everything got wet anyway!  My tent footprint was wet and very muddy which transferred to my tent floor.  Amazingly enough, I did manage to keep my sleeping bag dry throughout this whole ordeal!  I had it in a waterproof compression sack and in the tent I spread out everything plastic around the mattress pad to prevent it from getting wet.  I didn't sleep well during this time as I kept waking up to make sure I hadn't moved during the night onto the wet tent floor.

So, what does one do when they wake up to day 5 of rain?  Aside from wishing my friend Kris would come pick me up in his helicopter, I picked up the sat-phone and called Jim as I knew he would understand.  Leaving a message for him, he called back and told him I wanted to vent; I was miserable, it had been raining 5 out of the 6 days I've been out here and that I was done with this.  I had to keep moving forward, but that I was done and coming out early.  Then the phone died!  Great, but finally the rain stopped and I heard the sites on either side of me emerge and start to break down there tents and they were gone.

I got dressed and grabbed the water bladder, bottle and filter and headed down to the lake.  I was starving and needed to eat and in a hurry!  Grabbed the food bag off the pole and headed back to camp where it started to rain again.  I got some water going and ate breakfast and some extra stuff as well.  Drank some tea and water and felt much better.  It stopped raining and the fog came in.  As I was packing up, I kept asking for some sun.  What do know, it actually came out!  Wow, and it really felt good!  I ran over to site #4 to grab a picture of the view from there.  It's beautiful and I was bummed out I didn't get that site, but oh well.

 

View from site #4

I was still famished and boiled some more water and ate another meal, while the sun was out allowing it to dry out my stuff for a little bit.  Again I had another late start, but sitting in the sun eating a meal felt good, so I didn't worry too much.  I walked out to the ranger hut and Paul was leaving and seemed startled anyone was still here.  He asked me if I beat the storm in and told him what happened and he just shook his head.  I asked about Klapatche and he said it was uphill and unlike yesterday the trail was steep and not nice.  He also mentioned to get water before I got to camp and not to drink out of the lake.  Klapatche Lake is a scum lake and he said there was a stream right after the river crossing to get water there or I would have to hike 2 miles to get water!  He then left for Indian Henry's and had a long day of like 18 miles.  I left right behind him at 1035 after taking a few pictures. 

 

Ranger hut at Golden Lakes

The trail out of camp was up and down and the rest of  Sunset Park was beautiful.  I ran into some hikers and we talked about the weather, the misery and the ability to keep going.  North Puyallup (pronounce Pew-oll-up) River Camp was 4.9 miles away and I set a goal of arriving there at 1300-1330.  Met a guy who was moving and had left from Longmire and was going to Mowich Lake.  What?!  He then said he was doing the trail in 3 day and I can't imagine doing that!  Met a two other groups of 2 guys, one of which said Klapatche was freezing cold last night, so they came down to North Puyallup for the night and they were done and bailing off the trail.  The other group told me there was a stream to the south of the lake they used for water, not to hump it up the hill. All of the groups said that people have bailed off the trail because of the weather.  I made to the North Puyullup camp at 1310, so made good time. Crossed the river over a nice wood bridge and stopped at the group site for a snack.  I still debated going out via a trail to the Westside Road, but kept going.

 

Sunset Park

 

Flowers at Sunset Park

 

Sunset Park

 

Trail on way to N. Puyallup River

 

Bridge across N. Puyallup River

 

N. Puyallup River

After a break, started uphill for Klapatche and found the stream that the ranger had mentioned and listened to my gut and dropped the pack to fill up the bladder and my water bottle.  Filling up the bladder meant unpacking the pack, but I needed the water so it wasn't a big deal.  After getting water and repacking, my pack was heavy once again as water weighs around 8 lbs/gal.  The uphill trail here was tough and steep and nothing like the gradual nice uphill of yesterday as the ranger had said.  It was nothing like Ipsut Pass though!
I passed this tree that had these huge rocks still embedded in its root system and one had fallen down to the trail.  Pretty cool to see that!

Those rocks aren't small

Met some people coming down with one couple telling me that the ranger was at Klapatche eating lunch and that was at 1400, so Paul had hiked 7.8 miles in like 3 hours.  Wow, guess when you have a very light pack you can move!  The wife had her face all cut up and she told me she fell down some steep part of the trail coming out of Indian Henry's and fell on her face and even lost a tooth!  I'm thinking I would have been done at that point, but here she was, hiking on.  The trail continued on with up and more up and then the switchbacks got longer.  I hit a flat spot thinking I was at the top until I looked at the map, nope, more up and steeper, then finally the switchbacks got shorter and I came out into Aurora Park and the fog.

 

Uphill to Klapatche

Aurora Park in the fog

 

Klapatche Lake in the fog

I finally made it to camp and took site #3 on a recommend from one of the guys I passed on the trail.  I was the only one in camp and I think I got to camp around 1630.  The fog was thick and it was cold at 5900 ft.  I got the tent and camp set up and ate some more snacks.  I had dinner limiting myself to one meal here although I easily could have eaten two of them as I had to water ration until tomorrow.  After dinner, I looked around for the creek the guys talked about, but never did find it, so glad I humped it up the hill.  I also called Jim and Jen and worked out a plan to come out early not really sure on how it would all work out.  I wanted to get to Longmire or keep heading south on the trail so that the hike on the road wouldn't be that long.  I had 3 choice at this point:

1. Bypass South Puyullup River Camp and go on to Devil's Dream which would put me in Longmire a day early.
2. Hike the trail out here at Klapatche Park onto the Westside Road and meet Jen at the gate.
3. Hike to South Puyullup River Camp and take the trail out to the road and meet Jen at the gate.
   

I told them to call the National Park Inn to see if they could get me another night added on to my current reservation and I would call them in the morning.  I needed to call the Ranger Station in the morning to see if I could stay at Devil's.

I went to sleep with a light rain and the question of how things would pan out in the morning.  I was the only on in camp again and I don't like being the only one in camp.

Wonderland Trail Day 5: Mowich Lake to Golden Lakes

Aug 13
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

Wonderland Trail Day 4-Carbon River to Mowich Lake Walk-in

Aug 12
Mileage: 10.4 miles with trail detour
Carbon River: 3195 ft
Mowich Lake: 4900 ft

I didn't sleep well again but somehow didn't hear the alarm go off at 0500.  I awoke to heavy rain, I'm guessing the sun goddess didn't want to come out today.  I got dressed, ate breakfast and packed up in the rain.  Funny, the rain will slow down, but boy it sure does know when I'm trying to pack the tent up and it just starts coming down.  I left camp at 0800 and was excited to get to Mowich with my mind made up to move with a purpose today as I wanted to get there between 1400-1600.

The waterfall and river by Carbon River CG

Because of the trail closure just outside of camp, I had to detour back to suspension bridge to cross it again, which I love doing as it gives you a different perspective of the river and its banks.  Headed up the NLT (Northern Loop Trail) for 1.5 miles.  The NLT was pretty flat for the most part I was on it but it did have a few rolling sections.

Met up with 3 guys that were headed to Mystic but stayed somewhere else and decided to head back to their car because of the weather.  We crossed the detour of 3 log bridges across the Carbon River.  They headed uphill to the WLT and took off.  I stopped to pull some layers off as it stopped raining for once.

 One of the 3 log bridges on the detour

I was pretty excited when it dawned on me that I was now on the north side of the mountain instead of east or northeast.  The forest was thick and at times almost seemed like a rain forest.  This part of the WLT is really flat and I motored on it!  I made it to the Ipsut Junction in about 2.4 hours, which I thought was pretty good time for 4.4 miles.  This section of the trail had some damage from the 2006 flood.

Carbon River is clogged with felled trees

The sign at the junction said 'Ipsut Pass 3.5 miles and Mowich Lake 5 miles'.  In all fairness, I have to ask how the NPS measures the distances posted on the trail signs?  There were many times I began to wonder if they used a straight ruler on a map as this turned out to be a very long 5 mile hike.

The trail from the junction went up and was gradual and the forest gave way to rain forest fauna.  It was beautiful.  It started raining again but I was under the forest canopy so it didn't bother me that much.
I was beginning to wonder where the pass was as the climb up was getting steeper and the canopy thinned out a lot.

Waterfall along the trail

 

Bushy Trail heading up to Ipsut Pass

 

 

Some cool looking fungi  

I met a young guy who smelled nice and we chatted for a bit.  He was on day 1 and seemed pretty excited.  He was headed to Carbon River so I told him about the trail detour.  He didn't know and I was still surprised that the rangers were not telling people about it. I asked him how far to the pass and he told me about a mile and that I had the really steep part to climb. What!!!  The really steep part and I am on steep trail!!!   About that time, a guy came down the hill with a 2 year old on his shoulders and 3 more very young kids behind him.  He said that the whole family was out here doing the whole WLT!  Wow, very young children out here in this weather humping through the mud!  They were on day 10 and I repeated the detour to him as well.  I offered him money to carry me up to the pass and he replied that he was just about to ask me to carry him a ways!  We all departed laughing...in the pouring down rain.

I came to an opening and the canopy of the forest was gone and all of a sudden it quit raining!!! Could this be it?  No more rain?  Then a small patch of blue sky appeared and I grabbed a picture of it in case I needed it to remember what it looked like.  I still had no view of the mountain, but was happy with no rain.  It was about that time I realized what the really steep part just meant.  It meant almost straight up and this part of the trail is rocky and very bushy with Devil's Club.  I might add, Devil's Club that was over my head.

This part of the trail is Mt Si on steroids and is literally almost straight up and has lots of switchbacks.  I had to mountain goat up that and it was slow going.  I noticed the fog was moving back in and knew what that meant...yup more rain and it dumped down on me unlike anything I had gone through so far.

 Trail on the Ipsut Pass; looking back down

As I got closer to the top, I noticed that I was starting to get wet underneath my Gortex jacket and was wondering how water was getting in.  My biggest worry now was hypothermia as the temp was dropping with the weather and altitude gain.  Finally I made it to the pass and the sign said I had 2 miles to go.  I was almost running just to heat up and get to camp.

Lack of signs around Mowich Lake made it hard to figure out which way to go as there are multiple road access points on the trail.  I made it to camp at 1530 and thought about this; I hiked 4.4 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes and it took me 5 hours to hike 6 miles!  Wow, that 'really steep part' cost me heaps of time.

I looked around for Dawn but didn't find her so headed for the new toilet which has an overhang to find 4 people huddled under it.  They had finished the NLT & WLT in 12 days and were waiting for a ride.  I quickly got my pack off as I knew I hypothermia was close to setting in as I was a cold,wet and teeth chattering puppy.  I ripped apart my pack to find my other clothes and got them on pronto.

Dawn finally showed up and it seemed really confusing to me as what I needed done, finally deciding to get food and get in the car and turn on the heater!  I needed to get warm, eat and change clothes.  The rest could wait.  It was also still raining very hard, so when it stopped we would jump out of the car to get my pack, set up the tent or swap out my stuff and when the rain returned we would race back to the car and turn on the heat.  It was crazy and miserable at the same time.  Also, discovered in my haste to leave my last camp, that I left behind a tent stake, so I improvised with a stick.

 

Me in a race against the rain 

setting up the tent

One advantage of having friends bring in your food cache was she brought me some really fresh good food and drinks.  Our original plan since Mowich has picnic tables was to have picnic and that didn't happen with the rain storms.  I had a Cobb salad, fresh fruit and some baked goods from the wheat-gluten free bakery in Kent for dinner. Yum!

I really wanted to go to  Carbonado so I could dry out with my tent and but my friend had to work the next day, so that plan didn't work out.  I really didn't want to spend another night in a cold wet tent.

Another advantage of having friends come out is bringing out fresh clothes, so got the food swapped out and then the clothes.  After I changed and gave her everything I wanted to get rid off, it was time for her to go.  I remember thinking as I saw her drive off was "why am I still sitting here in the pouring down rain?"  That was a tough moment for me.

The four were still waiting so I went to talk with them for a while.  I fessed up that I had a sat-phone if they needed to call for another ride to let me know.  Another rain storm hit after that with a torrential down pour just as I got in the tent.  One of the women came over to ask to call her mom for a ride.  We got a hold of her mom and her brother was on the way.  It was now 1930 and they had been sitting there since 1330!  One of the guys' wife was supposed to pick them up and hadn't shown up yet.  When the rain stopped, I went back to drink a root beer that Dawn left and talked with them some more.  Finally, I left heading back to my tent and possibly some sleep.  I fell asleep hoping for the sun, some better weather and at 2200 the sound of four people running to a pickup truck.  Their ride had finally arrived after sitting there for 8.5 hours! (Note to any of the four, if you read this leave a comment or email as to what happened to that guy's wife and glad you all finally got picked up)

Wonderland Trail Day 3: Mystic Lake to Carbon River

Aug 11
Mileage: 5 mi
Mystic Lake: 5570 ft
Carbon River: 3195 ft

Guess the ranger was right about the rain starting on Tuesday.  Man, I was really hoping the weather would hold and I awoke to rain beating on my rain-fly at 0630 after another restless night of sleep and weird dreams. It must have been that beef stew I had for dinner.

I thought about getting up but waited to see if the rain would stop and nobody else in camp seemed to be stirring, so they must have had the same idea.  The rain stopped about 0830 and I got up for a loo trip and to get my food from the bear pole since they were both on the other side of camp across the trail.

I wasn't in a big hurry this morning since I had another short day of 5 miles, so I took my time and the sun peaked out so I decided to try and let the tent dry some.  That turned out to be a mistake because about the time some of the last hikers left camp and I started to pack my tent, the rain let loose with a downpour!  Crap, you have to be kidding me!!!  I got the tent packed up and the rain gear on and left camp around 1030 in a rain storm as day 2 of rain was really about to begin.

I headed up the hill to Mystic Lake and it was beautiful even with the rain and fog.  I briefly spoke to 3 guys camped out at the lake which surprised me as I thought you had to camp at the camp sites.  It must have been okay since they were right by the ranger station.

 

Mystic Lake south shore

 

Once on the south end of the lake and passing through a field and bit of a forest the trail headed up hill to Moraine Park.  The wild flowers were out in bloom so the trail uphill was absolutely gorgeous.  The 3 guys at the lake caught up to me at the top and then as suddenly as they appeared one of them headed back downhill.  I never saw them again which surprised me as  I thought they would pass me.  They were hiking to the Northern Loop Trail. 

I made the summit of the hill I was climbing up and there was another trail there but nothing was marked, so I stopped for a snack and updated the POI in the GPS and I knew from looking at the map the night before that it was downhill the rest of the day to the camp and the Carbon River, so I headed that way.  It was about this time playing with the GPS that I realized I had forgot to reset the trip computer at White River and I didn't have the data for just this trip.  Sigh...

Once down on the back side of Old Desolate Mountain there was Moraine Park and again beautiful with all the flowers.  It had also stopped raining for a brief time and I became aware of a weather pattern on the mountain; the rain would clear, maybe a sun break and then the fog would roll back in to bring in more rain.

Trail and wild flowers                                                        Thistle

I ran into 2 guys who were part of a large group heading to Granite Creek and talked with them for a few minutes. One of them was wearing cotton... I have to say it...WTF!...anyone with any sense knows you DO NOT hike in cotton anything!  He was soaking wet from the rain as well, so hope he stayed healthy.   I walked through the park enjoying the visual and scents of the different flowers. Also, it was nice to be on some flat ground as there is not that much of it on this trail.


 Moraine Park

Heading down hill the rain had started again and I ran into another solo hiker from the Norther Loop Trail and guess what, he was in cotton too!  We talked for 10 minutes or so before he stated that he needed to get moving as he was cold!  Well, yeah that happens when you wear wet cotton.  Actually, this day I was surprised on how many hikers I saw with cotton on.  Glad it wasn't me!!!

Downhill I went for probably 3 miles or so it seemed and mostly in the rain.  I was going CCW (counter-clock wise) and those coming CW (clock-wise) I felt sorry for them.  Most of them were bending over from the climb up and most of them called this the "death hike" and was wondering when it would end.

Some of the trail was extremely rocky and slick from the rain, so it slowed me down as that type of trail just kills my knees and feet.  I'm also one not to rush to camp because once you set up and eat there is really not much else to do.

                                                                   

Once I passed Dick's Camp there was a trail detour because of a landslide.  The fog was rolling in and out so I catching glimpses of  the Carbon River and glacier.  The fog stayed out long enough for me to see the river coming out from the glacier and it is pretty cool to see the beginning of a river.

 Beginning of Carbon River from its glacier

                                                                                     

 

Carbon Glacier

Almost at the bottom of the hill, I ran into a couple that had quit their jobs and had met on the AT (Appalachian Trail) and gotten married.  Tina and Eric were very nice and now they were traveling around the US in their car, hiking when they could.  Their web site is footpounder.com

Finally, came to the suspension bridge to cross the Carbon River.  About time the Park Service and the US caught up to the Kiwis.  In New Zealand, most big rivers have suspension bridges, not the log bridges currently on the WLT.  The river was swiftly moving, loud and full of glacier flour, so started across the bridge and since nobody else was around got a few pictures in.

Now the map shows the campground right by the bridge and someone had told me the same thing, uh, no.  It's actually down the trail a 1/2 mile or so.  I arrived in camp at 1530 and I have to say, I did not like this camp at all.  I'm not sure why either.  Maybe it was the fact that the other camps where flat and spread out where Carbon River was narrow and the sites were uphill.  When you come into camp, site #1 is right there with no tree cover so that site was out since it was raining again.  Then the group site is across the trail and looked nice.  Walking further into camp is the bear pole and going straight back was a very treacherous trail to the toilet.  My first though hiking back here, was "Hope I don't get diarrhea and have to run back here"!  Sites 2-4 were UPHILL!!! A very muddy and slick uphill I might add.  I took site #2 and ate lunch and took the tent out to dry it out during rain breaks to no avail.  Getting water required walking back to the stream coming into camp at the junction for Spray Park, so it wasn't exactly convenient.  Since it quit raining for a bit, I went to get water and decided since it was getting late and dark that I would wait a half hour to see if anyone else would show up and if not, move to the group site.  Around 1800, I did just that and moved everything back down the hill and wouldn't you know it as I'm setting up my tent, another down pour.  I have to get better with my timing!

I finished dinner and prepared camp for another wet and cold night.  By time I crawled into the tent, I was still the only one in camp which is weird since the WLT was fully booked for the season.  I had decided since tomorrow was day 4 and I was meeting Dawn for my resupply, I was getting up early and hitting the trail.  I set the alarm for 0500 and again fell into a restless sleep praying for the sun goddess to show her glorious self the next day.

Wonderland Trail Day 2: Granite Creek to Mystic Lake

Aug 10
Mileage: 5.5 miles (Green Trail map 4.3 mi, NPS planning map 5.5 mi)
Granite Creek: 5765 ft
Mystic Lake: 5570 ft

Awoke to a cold and damp morning at 0600, but really didn't feel like getting up that early since I had a "short" day.  I stayed in the tent until 0700 and started what would become my routine of cleaning up & getting dressed, taking care of my feet with moleskin, and then packing up the sleeping bag and mattress.  I then had breakfast of cold cereal and tea.
                                                                                            
I had site #2 and Granite Creek is nice.  Site #2 is by the bear pole and toilet and across the trail is the group site.  You have to go down the trail about 75 yds to Granite Creek to get water.

Granite Creek campsite #2

I packed the tent up and it was wet along with the footprint although I didn't hear it rain during the night.  As I was packing up my pack, I think my old friend, Steve went walking by on the trail with his daughter.  Steve is an ultra-light backpacker and this guy had a tiny pack.  I was wishing I had a lighter pack, but Steve typically hikes the WLT in 3 days hiking 35 miles a day!   I don't hike 35 miles a day so heavy pack it is!                                        

Granite Creek log bridge crossing

I called a friend on the sat-phone for a test call and to tell her to bring some things that I left behind and to pick up more moleskin.  I left camp at 1010 and noticed that my blisters didn't feel too bad this morning and that I had mostly downhill to Winthrop Creek and uphill to Mystic.


Met a young couple finishing up the Northern Loop Trail and they mentioned that the bugs were still horrendous at Lake James.  Bugs on the WLT were not too bad, so far.  Also ran into an older couple that were on day 7 of 10 and they seem to be having a good time.

I finally got to a opening to see the Winthrop Glacier and it is spectacular.  You could hear it move with cracking noises and see rocks fall off of it.  I then ran into a group of 5 and talked with the 2 young women for a while.  They were locals from the Seattle area and they gave me info on all the camps.  They were on their last day heading to Sunrise.

Winthrop Glacier and a peek at the bottom of Mt Rainier

Downhill to Garda Falls which was moving fast and very pretty.  I stopped for a break to take some pictures and noticed that my tent wasn't staying put so I tied it to my pack and good thing I did as I was crossing the log bridge by the falls, my tent came loose.  I would have probably lost my tent to the river and would have had to go home.  Whew!  Stopped to secure it in a different position and moved to the log bridge to cross Winthrop Creek.  I have to admit I was a little nervous about crossing my first river mainly because you hear stories about the log bridges being out and I really didn't want to ford a fast moving cold river.

 Garda Falls

The first thing you notice besides the temperature drop is just how loud that river really is.  The river was pretty high as the river level was just below the log.  I just looked ahead and got across with no problems.  Cool!

 Winthrop Creek log bridge

 

Garda Falls with the Burroughs Mountain

in the background

 

Heading uphill to Mystic, the sun had come out but high cirrus clouds were moving in, so rain was coming.  Little did I know!  I got uphill some more and all of sudden I heard a couple loud booms and started looking around.  They say if you are by a glacier and a river and you hear those sounds, check your water level and head uphill quickly.  Since I was already up, I started looking around and heard another loud crack and looked up on the glacier saw this boulder about the size of a house breaking  free and was rolling down the glacier!  It fell into the river making this humongous splash and continued rolling down the river until it hit another big rock.  Holy crap!!!  It was miles from me, but served as a reminder that glaciers are always moving and to pay attention to what is happening around you. 

The second river crossing was supposed to be the West Fork White River and I guess the flood of 2006 changed the river course.  You are crossing a dry river bed with a small creek crossing.  It is really eerie to hike across that! 

  Crossing the dry West Fork White River

Ran into 2 older ladies thru-hikers and stopped to chat with them.  One of the ladies commented that my packed looked heavy and that I had too much.  I explained that food, water and my tent was the bulk of my weight and I was solo, so I didn't have the luxury of splitting weight with a partner.  She then stated that "You must be really strong" and her friend whacked her in the arm and said "Of course she is".  I walked away laughing.

I arrived at Mystic Lake at 1410 and took site #4 and got the tent out to dry and then ate lunch.  I got the tent, me and my clothes all washed and cleaned up.  The ranger showed up checking permits and found out I was supposed to be on the group site.  Oops and I offered to move and she said I didn't have to, which was nice. She would direct a group there to stay that came in later.

Started dinner and the winds started kicking up. After dinner, I was going to walk up to the lake but the winds were now gusting around 50 mph, so didn't go.  Got everything put away and noticed that the camp was now full.

A good second day completed and felt better about being out there solo and felt more settled about being on the trail. I fell asleep to the trees creaking and the wind blowing hard.

 

Mystic Lake site # 4

Wonderland Trail: Day 1 - White River Campground to Granite Creek

Aug 9
Mileage: 7.5 miles
White River Campground: 4232 ft
Granite Creek: 5765 ft

Here is a link to a map to follow along.  Also here is a link the trail elevation profile.

I woke up later than I wanted after a restless night of sleep and had some apprehension about doing this hike and going solo. Checked the NWS web site for the weather and looks like rain Mon - Wed, hope not. Left home at 0745 and headed to Enumclaw for breakfast. My trainer told me about this place called The Kettle. Holy smokes! I ordered a 1/2 order of the Buckley scramble and could have fed a family of four on it! It was huge and way too much food, but the place has good food and prices plus a friendly wait staff. As I left the restaurant, it started to rain.

Got to the White River Entrance and picked up my permit and drove up to the campground and found parking. I got one of the few spots left and was grateful for that. Got my gear together and got ready to go. I was not happy with my pack weight being around 40 lbs as I was hoping for around 30lbs, but it was time to get going.

Found the trail-head after sorting out some confusing trail signs and headed uphill for 2.5 miles. I had a woman at a car camp site take my picture before I left. Ahh...that first day excitement...

Me at the historic ranger hut and trail head

Officially started my adventure at 1135 and with the trail being in great condition and about 30 minutes into my hike ran into a thru-hike couple and talked with them to get some info about the trail and camps. They did tell me that there was a detour at the Carbon River CG so I thanked them for the info and wondered why the ranger didn't mention that.

Headed up the trail to Sunrise

Cool little waterfall through a tree

I came to a field with wild flowers and they were everywhere.

Finally making it to the trail junction to Shadow Lake where I would have lunch. I met a group of women out for a day hike and talked with them on my way to the lake.

Field of wild flowers at Sunrise Park

Shadow Lake

Deer with 2 fawns on way to Frozen Lake

After a lunch break at Shadow Lake some misty fog rolled in and upon reaching Frozen Lake it turned into rain. Stopped to put on the rain gear and pack cover. Climbed up to Skyscraper Mountain and was ruled out a scramble up since it was still raining and I would get no views.

Finally started heading down hill to Granite Creek and it stopped raining. I made it to camp a bit wet and with a few blisters. Set up the tent, ate dinner and got cleaned up. Met my camp-mates who were locals and heading to Carbon River the next day. Not a bad first day and went to sleep hoping the weather would hold.