Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

This forum is used to share your experiences out on the trails.
Post Reply
leiavoia
Posts: 228
Joined: April 24th, 2015, 9:53 pm

Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

Post by leiavoia » October 18th, 2020, 6:23 pm

Image

I snagged a 10-day reservation for the Wonderland Trail on Mt Rainier this year, so i set off on a solo adventure in mid-September. This trail has been covered in depth in so many other places, so i will just share the highlights here. If you are a future person doing research on this trip, here's what i want you to know:
  • There are a so, so, so many ups and downs. There are almost no "flat cruising miles" on the entire trail except on the south side. Elevation changes are going to reduce your normal daily mileage and lead to fatigue. Get in shape before you go.
  • This trail is generally hammock-friendly as long as you are not traveling with a large group of fellow hammockers. Often times there is "that one good spot" you need to snag for hammocking. If this were a regular wilderness, you can hang anywhere, but with designated campsites, you have to work with what you reserve.
  • Many of the camps at this point in the season were dried up (despite what park info says) and you will have to backtrack 15 minutes to get water. Either come earlier in the season or have the means to haul some water back to camp. Because of this, cook-in-bag dried meals really shine because there is nothing to clean up (nor any means to do so)
  • The trail is generally safe and in good shape. No especially risky or nerve racking parts, but the difficulty level is still high just due to distance and fatigue.
  • Always bring gummies.
Historical Notes: 2020 was a record-breaking weird year. We suffered through a global pandemic, social isolation, and much of the West Coast was burned up in wildfires in September. Despite all this, i went anyway...

Day 1 - Longmire to Devil's Dream (6 miles)
Elevation: Up, Up
Weather: Warm and smokey
Camp: Very nice sites but no water.
Hilites: Crossing the two rivers about mid-way.

This stretch is your typical "mostly viewless forest" hike. Not much to write home about. Picking your way across the rivers takes a little bit of cairn-finding, but nothing challenging this time of year. Camp was pleasant and dead-silent at night. Feeling good.

Day 2 - Devil's Dream to South Puyallup (7 miles)
Elevation: Down, Up
Weather: Partly smokey
Camp: A bit scruffy in places but plenty of space. Still no water.
Hilites: Suspension bridge. Massive scenery of glacial devastation. Marmots!

After leaving camp, i went through a high meadow area before heading down to a river to start back up the other side. You get to cross a fun suspension bridge and this is a good place to take lunch (the concrete bridge supports being some of the only flats spots on the entire trail). After ascending the ridge to the turn-around point, the scenery opens up and you can see all the way down two glacier-carved valleys at the same time. Good place to take a big pano. Unfortunately, there was still considerable haze and smoke on this day, so i never actually saw Mt Rainier. There is a colony of docile marmots here that will pose for pictures, though!

Image

Image

Image

Day 3 - South Puyallup to North Puyallup (7 miles)
Elevation: Up, Across, Down
Weather: Smoke transitioning to rain
Camp: Dark and spooky. Avoid this one if possible. (And the toilet is on the other side of the river!)
Hilites: St. Andrews Lake. Bear sighting. Huckleberries galore.

Ascending yet another forested ridge, i had my first on-trail bear sighting, my first in dozens of backpack trips. The ridge walk to St Andrews lake was full of mist and low clouds. St Andrews Lake is a beautiful spot and you should absolutely plan to take your lunch here. Thats what i would have liked, but right when i got there dark clouds started pouring over the hillside behind the lake. That's a mountain's way of saying "Get the heck outta here." I put on my rain gear and double-timed it down the mountain. By the time i got to North Puyallup camp at 2:30pm, it was raining, i was tired, behind schedule, and had an unhappy tummy. I asked myself if i wanted to trudge another 5 miles uphill in the rain with a questionable stomach and set up camp in the dark. I said, "nope" and took camp here instead, even though my reservation was for Golden Lakes. Most of the camps were empty due to COVID19 and wildfire burn cancellations, so i didn't feel bad about taking someone's spot. It rained all night. Autumn had arrived very suddenly.

Image

Day 4 - North Puyallup to South Mowich River Camp (12 miles)
Elevation: Up, Up, Across, Down, Down
Weather: Rainy and partly miserable
Camp: S.Mowich is silty but there is a nearby stream 10 minutes up. Micro biting flies. Log shelter.
Hilites: Golden Lakes. Fun river crossing.

I now had 5 extra miles to make up for on what was supposed to be my "easy day". I got up, skipped breakfast and coffee, packed up in the dark and the rain, and left camp at 8am. A group of girls half my age was cruising through and so i made it a game to try to keep up with them (and i did!). This little bit of motivation was welcomed at this point because i had not seen anyone on the trail in 2 days and it rained all morning. My waterproof shoes were soaked in 30 minutes. My "rain pants" did nothing. It was fast-paced misery for the first few hours, then easy cruising over thankfully flat-ish country to Golden Lakes, then down-down-down to South Mowich River. I blasted out 12 miles in the rain and made it to camp by mid-afternoon (For me, thats a very good pace). Once endorphins kick in, i can't feel my legs anymore, so everything's fine. South Mowich river is a wide, stony devastated area with multiple criss-crossing little riverlets. There are several make-shift bridges and log crossing with flags and cairns to mark the way. In camp, i wrung brown water out of my now squishy socks which smelled like vomit and moldy cheese. After a nap, camp chores, and dinner, the rain returned and kept up all night.

Image

Day 5 - South Mowich to Cataract Valley Camp (10 miles)
Elevation: Up, Up, Up, Up, Down
Weather: Partly beautiful with low clouds
Camp: Nice! Lots of pretty sites, in-camp water source, and exceptionally scenic open-air latrine, serenaded by pikas.
Hilites: Cataract Valley views. Beer in food cache at Mowich Lake.

I dont know how, but mice chewed up my food bag... while it was hanging up on a pole (do they fly now?). They also chewed through my pack pocket and cook kit bag. Not sure what to do with my vomit-socks, i put them in a ziplock bag at the bottom of the pack and tried to forget about them. I put on my dry pair and got started out of camp at 10am, needing the extra rest from the day before. The rain had stopped and weather was pleasant. The smoke was gone. Today was all about going up up up and more up. The trip up to Mowich Lake is another switchbacking trip up viewless hillsides. I got my food cache at the lake and took a good hour to repack and drink my victory beer. Then it was up the Spray Park route, past Eagles Roost, and up to ice country as the trail tops out at one of the highest points. Trees are gone, patches of snow remain, and lots of loose stones will test your ankles as you go up through the park and start back down. There are tremendous views of Cataract Valley / Mist Park from the top here. (I would LOVE to know if camping is available here. There is a trail going down, but no registered campsites on the map). I got here just as the sun was starting to go down and mist was filling the valley from both sides for amazing pictures. After going up 4000 vertical feet in one day, i now went down another 1000+ to camp where i set up in the dark. I was getting very exhausted by this point, but at least the pictures were good.

Image

Image

Day 6 - Cataract Valley to Mystic Lake (7 miles)
Elevation: Down, Up, Up
Weather: Partly cloudy
Camp: Also nice. In-camp stream and more pikas.
Hilites: Carbon Glacier. Mystic Lake.

I imagined this was going to be an easy day. Only 7 miles and it looked flat on the map. It wasn't. My energy now gone, i ran out of mental tricks to motivate myself to keep going. I absolutely trudged the entire way, one sad step at a time. You do get another fun suspension bridge and up close views of Carbon Glacier here, though. It's the lowest elevation glacier in the US. Mystic lake is a pretty little area worth taking many pictures. Camp is a quarter mile past the lake. At this point i had a hard time even sitting up straight enough to eat dinner.

Image

Day 7 - Mystic Lake to Sunrise Camp (9 miles)
Elevation: Flat!, Up, Up, Down
Weather: Partly cloudy with patches of hope
Camp: Acceptable. Nearby lake for water and many sites. Lots of day-hiker traffic.
Hilites: Berkely Park and Skyscraper Mt Pass

Strangely, i felt much better today. I went further and faster than i was expecting and made it into camp hours ahead of schedule. The trail climbs up more forested hillsides until it tops out at the moonscaped mountain pass near Skyscraper Mountain. This would make a fun diversion if i were not so focused. While the weather was fair, it was still cloudy and i still haven't seen a good view of Mt Rainier. The mist and clouds and fog have their own beauty however. Berkely Park is extremely scenic and i imagine it would be even more so with wildflowers earlier in the year. The weather opened up towards mid afternoon and there were even patches of blue sky. In camp, i met a nice family traveling in from Michigan just to hike around Mt Rainier. We chatted and had dinner together. On the way over however, i also chatted with the park ranger who informed me that a storm was coming in the next day and that an inch of rain was on the way. It had taken me 3 days to dry my shoes out and i wasn't looking forward to doing another 3 days in a storm.

Image

Image

Image

Day 8 - Sunrise to I-5
Elevation: Screw it
Weather: Pineapple Express
Camp: Comes with mattress and refrigerator. This was my favorite.
Hilites: Making a good decision.

It rained all night. It rained all morning. I did not want to get up. I did not want hike in the rain for 3 more days. At 9am i made a decision to abort the trip and make a plea deal with the nice family i met the day before. They were very kind to give me a ride back to Longmire on their way out. It rained all day. Road spray on the way home reduced visibility to about 100ft. It also rained on and off for the next several days.

I'm glad i made a good call to abort mission, but a little upset i didn't finish the entire circuit. I realize i bailed out right at the "good part" around Summerland and Indian Bar, but i was not going to be able to see the good part in a storm anyway.

In 8 days, i never once got a good, clear view of Mt Rainier. I got corners of it, or hazy outlines, but nothing better. I have had better views of Mt Rainier visiting family in Tacoma than i did standing directly on it.

Perhaps if conditions are right, i will go back and take care of unfinished business, or just opt for a full do-over.

A few lessons i learned:
I need to do better about being amphibious.
I hate filtering water. So much. I need a faster kit. Gravity filters are only nice when in camp with a group.
I can ration phone usage successfully over 10 days.
I need to work on my pack-up speed. Considering switching to a lazy-slug tube setup.

Further Exploration:
I would be very interested in learning more about the Northern Loop (a long, scenic alternate route) and Mist Park camping.

Thanks for reading. If you've hiked the Wonderland, i'd like to see your pictures too!

User avatar
poppacouch
Posts: 46
Joined: May 24th, 2019, 1:47 pm
Location: Beaverton, OR

Re: Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

Post by poppacouch » October 19th, 2020, 8:45 am

Thanks for your detailed write-up. Too bad about the weather. This trip is high on my list (preferably with sunny skies)!

Did you hammock camp the whole way (your intro suggests you did). How'd it go? I am a hammock camper - have found that while I don't usually sleep 100% in my hammock, I do sleep much better than I can on the ground.

What did you mean about 'lazy-slug tube setup'? Is it about just smashing everything in the pack without compression bags? I have taken this approach for my insulation - shove it to the bottom of the pack in a trash bag. Figure it fills out the pack better than I can with compression, but means I have to force everything down on top a bit if running short on space.

User avatar
drm
Posts: 6133
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: The Dalles, OR
Contact:

Re: Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

Post by drm » October 19th, 2020, 9:03 am

Oh well. When you must get a permit in advance, who knows what the weather will be like.

There is an eastern loop that takes in the Summerland to Indian Bar section you missed. So that would be a good option fir a future visit. The Northern Loop is great too. I've never done the full Wonderland in one go, I prefer to section hike various loops on one side. And I basically don't schedule backpacks in advance, which mostly means I can't ever hike Wonderland sections again.

leiavoia
Posts: 228
Joined: April 24th, 2015, 9:53 pm

Re: Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

Post by leiavoia » October 19th, 2020, 9:48 am

poppacouch wrote:
October 19th, 2020, 8:45 am
Thanks for your detailed write-up. Too bad about the weather. This trip is high on my list (preferably with sunny skies)!

Did you hammock camp the whole way (your intro suggests you did). How'd it go? I am a hammock camper - have found that while I don't usually sleep 100% in my hammock, I do sleep much better than I can on the ground.

What did you mean about 'lazy-slug tube setup'? Is it about just smashing everything in the pack without compression bags? I have taken this approach for my insulation - shove it to the bottom of the pack in a trash bag. Figure it fills out the pack better than I can with compression, but means I have to force everything down on top a bit if running short on space.
I hammocked the whole way - i dont usually carry a plan-B ;-) It went well, but as i mentioned some of the camps are limited, either because trees are way too big to get straps around, too far apart, or too skinny. You might be in a pickle if you're the last guy into camp at 8pm and everything else is taken. But for this trip i had one or sometimes two other parties in camp at most. Lots of choices. Weird situation with 2020 though.

A "lazy slug tube" is a sock that slides over the hammock, quilts, and everything inside. You then disconnect it from the suspension and shove it all in your bag as one solid lump.

User avatar
Chip Down
Posts: 3037
Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

Re: Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

Post by Chip Down » October 19th, 2020, 5:04 pm

What an adorable marmot pic!
[True, a lot of your other pics were "better", but that marmot pic was such a right-time-right-place opportunity.]
poppacouch wrote:
October 19th, 2020, 8:45 am
What did you mean about 'lazy-slug tube setup'? Is it about just smashing everything in the pack without compression bags? I have taken this approach for my insulation - shove it to the bottom of the pack in a trash bag. Figure it fills out the pack better than I can with compression, but means I have to force everything down on top a bit if running short on space.
Last time I went camping, I couldn't find a single compression sack in my closet, so just mashed my sleeping bag into the bottom of my pack. Worked really well! Good strategy because I had a huge expedition pack, so space wasn't at a premium.

wnshall
Posts: 186
Joined: July 17th, 2009, 10:31 am

Re: Wonderland Trail September 2020 - Smoke & Mist

Post by wnshall » October 19th, 2020, 7:58 pm

Wow! very cool. Mountains are great, even if you don't get to see them clearly.

Post Reply