It’s 0530 and it’s time to get up. I Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and I stink real bad. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag from the bear pole and start on another 4 star breakfast. One last day of cold Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and Classic French Vanilla Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. I’ll drink this during the first part of the day. Take down and pack the tent, the fly, the ground cloth & the rest of my gear.

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Mystic Camp to Granite Creek is only 5.5 miles up the trail. I’m past that by 10:00. The junction for the Northern Loop is just 3.3 miles up the trail. After another .7 miles you are at the 4 way junction for Mt. Fremont, Sourdough Ridge, The Wonderland, and Sunrise Visitor Center. Now I’m running into day hikers. The problem with day hikers/people is I like to talk. And I’ll talk to anyone/everyone. I even talked to a group of guys with the “Cascades Butterfly Project” .

2.1 miles from Sunrise to White River Campground and its all down hill (1,927′ Elev Loss). I’m 1/2 way down the hill when I run into some day hikers out for a walk. The two of them are out of water, not on their Campground Kiosk map and “lost”. Out comes my iPhone and I turn on the Guthook app. I give them the “good news”. It’s only 85 deg, only a mile to go and only 1,000′ of elevation to gain. With a huff they were off. If hindsight was close to 20/20, I would find a creek and filter some water for them.

I’m at the White River Campground and my VW is in the parking lot. I have done the Wonderland Trail. No, I didn’t get the FKT, but I didn’t get dead or hurt. I’ll take this as +. 11.78 Miles, 2,848′ Elev gain, 3,980 Elev. loss, time 6:07 . Time to change my clothes, walk to the White River, soak my feet and have a snack. With that done it’s time to drive home…..

Mt. Rainier / Wonderland Trail was great, I’ll be back!

It’s 0545 again but today I stay in my tent. It rained last night. I Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and I stink bad. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag from the bear box and start on another 4 star breakfast. Today I will make HOT Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and cold Strawberry Sensation Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. I’ll drink the cold part on the trail. Take down the tent and pack the wet fly, the wet ground cloth & the rest of my gear.

How to get from Mowich Lake to Carbon River is the question. If you stay on the Wonderland Trail you travel 8.5 miles with 981′ elevation gain 2650′ elevation loss. If you take the Spray Park Trail you travel 8.1 miles. From the camp site at 5,000′ you drop down to 4,750 and work your way up to 6352′. SNOW… Its August 31 and I get to spend time walking on snow. Then you drop 3,200′ of Elev. to the Carbon River. After you cross the bridge, Mystic Lake is only 4.9 miles up a steep hill.

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Lunch time. The Carbon Glacier is the biggest glacier outside Alaska. It is 5.7 miles long, 700′ thick, and volume of 0.2 cubic miles. I took :30+ min for lunch. I talk to a ranger, dry my ground cloth, the tent fly, take off my shoes, let my feet breath, eat some tuna fish and trail mix. I was also able to watch as the glacier was dry calving.

Back on the trail the ranger was correct, 4 miles and 2,835 of Elev. gain. Up hill all the way. Look everyone, another great looking lake. Too bad all the tent sites are another .2 miles down the trail. My plan….. use my 550 paracord to build a clothesline and dry all my wet gear. I have just enough rope to wrap one tree. Next time….

I put on my camp shoes and relax. 13.75 miles, 4,875′ Elev gain, 4,370′ Elev loss, 8:59 hours.

It’s 0545 again and I’m up. My sleep just ok. Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and I stink. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag off the bear pole and start on another 4 star breakfast. Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and a Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. Let that soak and I’ll drink my breakfast on the trail. Take down the tent and pack the rest of my gear.

North Puyallup River Group Camp to Mowich Lake Walk-in Camp. This looks like a 14 mile walk and I will be able to get my second food cache. The first 12 miles are easy. Nothing too big, nothing too long, nothing too steep. The South Mowich River has a reroute for the half log footbridge. The reroute follows multiple log crossings. Be careful on 8/20/2020 a guy fell in and went missing. After that you gain 2,300 feet in the last 1.75 miles.

You know that you are getting to Mowich Lake when you run into people/day hikers. I even run into a SFD Lt. walking with his wife. I find my “tent site” & set up on a gravel pad. Note: I was unable to pound my stakes into the ground ( improvise, adapt and overcome). Thank God for free standing tents. Now I’m off to find the Wilderness Patrol Cabin and my food. On the way back to my tent I run into some “good old boys”. After talking to them for 25 min I’m handed a few cold beers and I’m on my way back to the tent. When I get back to my tent I hand out beers like Santa Claus on Christmas day.

Then it started to rain.

14.92 Miles, 4,236 Elev Gain, 3,038 Elev Loss, 8:05 time

It’s 0545 and I’m up. Again, my sleep went well. Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and I stink. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag off the bear pole and start on another 4 star breakfast. Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and a Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. Let that soak and I’ll drink my breakfast on the trail. Take down the tent and pack the rest of my gear.

Another day of great morning hiking. Cool morning air, dew all over the plants, GREAT pics and I’m all by myself.

**** Please remember the rules for LNT****

If you have to go to the bathroom, this is it!! Indian Henry’s is the place to “go”. Look at this view. What way do you look?

Devils Dream to North Puyallup River was another day of elevation gain & loss. You hike up hill so you can hike down hill. Then you get to do it over again. Back up hill then back down hill.

13.52 Miles, 3,970 Elev Gain, 5,233 Elev Loss, 8:34 time

It’s 0545 and I’m up. I sleep well. Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and starting to stink. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag off the bear pole and start on another 4 star breakfast. Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and a Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. Let that soak and I’ll drink my breakfast on the trail. Take down the tent and pack the rest of my gear. Today I get my 1st food cache.

I was at Longmire in 3.5 miles. Now it’s time to find the Ranger Station and grab my food cache. At the Ranger Station I’m told about all the warnings on the next part of the trail. Before lunch I run into the general store. I get 2 cans of beed and some gifts for my friends. As I’m eating my lunch I spread my wet gear out on the picnic table to dry, pac my gear and drink a beer. Life is great!

It was time to start moving. With my pack full of water, food and a beer I’m off. After 1339′ of elevation gain I’m at Rampart ridge. You get a great view of Longmire. I only have 5 miles and a full pack will be at Devil’s Dream. The camp/tent site was close to the trail. I set up my tent, blow up my air mattress, spread out my sleeping bag, and was cooking dinner when a few fellow hiker gave me s_ _t for not sharing my beer (lol).

13.17 miles, 3,307 Elev Gain, 1,909 Elev Loss, 8:40 total time

*** At 0145 somebody went running by tent with a headlight on. WTF?? ***

***** GO FKT GO!! *****

It’s 0545 and I’m up. I’ve had better nights of sleep. Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and don’t stink too bad. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag off the bear pole and start on another 4 star meal. Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and a Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. Let that soak and I’ll drink my breakfast on the trail. Take down the tent and pack the rest of my gear. Nickel Creek was a fun place to camp but I have to go.

Next stop Louise Lake. Up hill, down hill, more up hill, more down hill. After 8 miles it’s time to try out my new Tenkara rod. Good news, I could see fish jumping. The bad news, the fish were on the far side of the lake. When I got to the far side of the lake I could see small rainbows going after fly’s. After 30 min I only had a few guys grab my fly. Nothing to write home about. It’s time to get back on the trail and find my camp. Paradise River Camp was hard to find. I had to look at the Guthook App and search the notes. The camp was moved .2 miles down the trail.

This is one of two short day – 11.56 miles, 3,033′ Elev Gain, 2,461 Elev Loss, 6:59 hours

Wonderland Trail Day 3

It’s 0545 and I’m up. I sleep well. Get out of the sleeping bag and get dressed. My clothes are dry, cold and starting to stink. I pack all my “need to stay dry” gear into my dry bag. Put on my shoes and I’m out of the tent. Get my food bag off the bear pole and start on another 4 star breakfast. Maple & brown sugar oatmeal and a Carnation Breakfast Essentials Powder. Let that soak and I’ll drink my breakfast on the trail. Take down the tent and pack the rest of my gear. Today I get my 1st food cache.

I was at Longmire in 3.5 miles. Find the Ranger Station and grab my food cache. At the Ranger Station I’m told about all the warnings on the next part of the trail. Before lunch I run into the general store. I get 2 cans of beed and some gifts for my friends. As I’m eating my lunch I spread my wet gear out on the picnic table to dry, pac my gear and drink a beer. Life is great!

It was time to start moving. With my pack full of water, food and a beer I’m off. After 1339′ of elevation gain I’m at Rampart ridge. You get a great view of Longmire. I have 5 miles and a full pack I hall to Devil’s Dream. The camp/tent site was close to the trail. I set up my tent, blow up my air mattress, spread out my sleeping bag, and was cooking dinner when a few fellow hiker gave me s_ _t for not sharing my beer.

13.17 miles, 3,307 Elev Gain, 1,909 Elev Loss, 8:40 hours

*** At 0145 somebody went running by tent with a headlight on. WTF?? ***

It’s 0530 and I’m tired of “sleeping “ in the front passenger seat of my car. It’s time to get up and start the Wonderland Trail. I get up, get dressed and double check my backpack. “I’m good to go”!

With my cold soaking breakfast in hand I get to my first river crossing. Yesterday I scouted out this bridge, and it looked bad. This morning, not so bad. What is the worst thing that could happen……..

I’m over and the trail begins. This trail is like “WOW”!!!!! Flat, wide, flat, beautiful, flat, and huge/old trees. Did I mention FLAT? Then it went up hill and the fun begins.

Up, up, up to Panhandle Gap. You start getting views of Mt. Rainier. I take pics. I remind myself that Mt. Rainier and I will be friends for the next 7 days. I take more pics. I’ll take a lot of pictures on this trip.

Up hill, down hill, move out of the way of the runner, more up hill, another runner and still more up hill. At Panhandle Gap I talk to a day hiker about a scramble to a great view spot. More up hill! One of the runners that passed me this morning is sitting at the top. He talks about getting up early, driving to the Mt. and running to the top to watch the sunrise. “It’s nice to be young”! I take in the view, take some pics and get on my way.

I need to find a spot for lunch. Some down hill, more up hill and I find a spot with a view.

Day one is 18 miles and 2,000 of elevation gain. I made good time. I get to my camp site, put on my camp shoes, set up my tent and get ready for dinner.

So the hunt continues. I’m 1.5 years into looking for the right bear can. If you have never had one, you don’t know what you are missing. They’re BIG, heavy, take up too much space and per “the man” are a requirement.
After talking to friends, research online and testing some at the store, I found the one for me.

Now it is time to test this can out. Will it fit into my pack? How much food will it hold? How easy is to open? All great questions……….

It’s easy to open. All you need to do is push down on the marks. Then turn the lid.
One full day of food is: Breakfast (hot chocolate, oatmeal & breakfast drink mix) ; Snack ( Snickers bar, beef jerky and/or trail mix) ; Lunch (Top Ramen, tuna fish, and/or mashed potatoes) ; Dinner most nights will be easy. Boil some water and mix with a Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry meals.

Now it’s time to go for a walk. In my pack I placed: my tent, sleeping pad, extra clothes, rain gear, water filter, stove kit, 5 lbs of sand and I still have room for the bear can. The pack was heavy. Kersee and I did a 4.5 mile walk. My Osprey Exos felt great.

The plan was for an uneventful walk to the lake. While at the trail head, two cars were looking for a place to park ( not much roadside parking).
Look Kersee, It Cindy and Ekl with Jeff and Jack. Kersee and I have been in the trail with these 4 before.

It’s always good to have friends.

The views are good. Better, the higher you go.

As we walked, the kids played (ie….rolling in something dead or trying to eat something dead) and we solved all the world’s problems. Life is GREAT!

After the stream crossing Kersee and I went to the lake. The other 4 did a loop back to the cars. At the lake we had a snack, something to drink and took some pictures.

My plan – Do 40 miles in 2 days. Cache some water close to the 20 mile mark, get dropped of at the east end of the park and get picked up in the evening of the second day.
*** Easy ***

I was unable to get a ride to trail head. Damn….

So, I drove myself. After talking to the ranger about a 10 mile loop, I was off.

My route finding skills in the desert, needs work. I missed the Eureka Peak Trail. After a bit I was in the California Riding and Hiking Trail. I went with it.!

At 8 miles in I found the Covington Crest Trail. 1.5 miles out to the view point for lunch and a view. While eating lunch I talked to some other day hikers.

As the sun started to set, the trip back was easy. When I got back to the trail head I had 19.3 miles. So close to 20, but yet so far. I went up the hill for another .5 mile. All said and done 20.3 miles

What’s next on the list?

Easy peasy lemon squeezy