Wonderland Trip

Cort gave me what she wrote up. This is her account of our trip on the Wonderland Trail around Mt Rainier.

Wanted to give you all an update on my Wonderland vacation.

I started the trip on Friday, September 8th with my friend Tania. We had great weather and hiked 10 miles to our first camp ground. On the way, Tania got a nasty blister on her heel, though neither of us thought much about it. We camped without incident and started day two with our heavy packs (mine weighed almost 50 lbs and hers 40lbs). By mid-day Tania's blister became two much to bear and she could no longer really walk at all. We decided to bail on our trip. We were both disappointed but for having to bail things really worked out well. We were hiking into a camp ground with road access and it was a Saturday so there we lots of weekend campers. We hitched a ride down to the ranger station (about 6 miles down the road) and called Tania's mom who lived about an hour away. Tania's mom picked us up and drove us over to our car. Tania and I drove back to Portland Saturday night. I figured my vacation was over. However, Will was able to take the week off and do the Wonderland with me. Sunday we went shopping for some more lightweight gear and re-organized and re-loaded our packs. When all was said and done my pack weighed in at 28 lbs and Will's at around 35 lbs. It should be perfectly clear that Will carried every piece of "group gear" (i.e. tent, water filter, stove - I helped out by carrying our group toothbrush and toothpaste and spoon!) Will and I drove up to Seattle on Sunday evening and drove to Sunrise (at Rainer) to get a permit to camp on Monday. We planned a 6 day/5 night trek. We started hiking around 10:30 Monday morning. Our first day was beautiful!! Sunny but not too warm. We hiked about 14.5 miles from Sunrise to Nickle Creek. On trail everyone we saw thought we were sort of crazy for planning it in 6 days (it is recommended to complete it in 10 -14 days). We did meet a couple however who was also doing it in 6 days. They were on day 2. We got to camp around 5:00 - 5:30 and right away met some interesting people. There was a man and his younger wife there who just kept talking and talking to us. He was a tad on the weird side but did give Will some good beta on the trail. We set up our tent, ate dinner and passed out. Day two was also perfect weather. We hiked 18 miles from Nickle Creek to Pyramid Creek. We were sort of in a race against time on day two b/c we had a food cache delivered to Longmire Ranger Station. When we checked in the ranger who gave us our permit was not able to get ahold of anyone at Longmire to confirm we would be picking up the cache a day earlier then planned. The ranger said as long as we were there before 4:30 it should be no problem. We hustled and got there around 1:30. The ranger was a lunch so Will bought me lunch at the restaurant there. We pigged out - onion rings, fries, burger, lemonade! It was delicious! After lunch we loaded up our cache and continued about 3.5 miles into camp. Another nice camp ground and we found ourselves there with some sunlight to enjoy. We sat by the River for some time and tried to dry out our clothes. Back at camp while we cooked our dinner we checked the map and saw that each of our remaining 4 days was around 15 miles, with the exception that day 6 would be 12 miles - our "easy day". We met a very nice couple from Minnesota (I told them about you Grant!!). They we attempting a summit bid on Friday/Saturday. The woman's mother had bought the guided summit trip for the woman for her birthday. We had so much time to relax at camp that Will put up his hammock!! We both rested in it and read. Day three was overcast but still a very comfortable day. We hiked 15 miles at what was for us a very slow pace but we really enjoyed the day. We hiked up on Emerald Ridge and had fabulous views of the Tahoma glacier. (Actually this day we climb up and along two ridge lines - and down again!!!) I think this might have been Will's favorite day b/c we were in an alpine like setting - high and rugged. We hiked from Pyramid Creek to North Pullayup. North Pullayup had very few campers. Just one other couple and a group of three. As Will and I headed over to the toilet to dump our uncooked rice (oops - I packed non-instant rice - oops!) one of the men in the group of three let us use his binoculars to look at mountain goats high on the mountain. As we went to bed that night we could tell a storm was moving in. Day four we woke up to a light rain. Undiscouraged we put on our new nifty light weight, multi-purpose ponchos and set off. After a short distance and a few hours we were soaked! Just soaked. Both my feet were sopping wet - to the point I could wring out my soaks. Will's feet were also wet, although he did not mention (i.e complain) about it like I did. We hiked up yet another ridge into what we were told is a beautiful area called Golden Lakes. We of course could not see a thing b/c of the weather. While at Golden Lakes we met yet another nice couple from Texas who had been in the back country for 10 days. The man was doing research for his doctorate work in some sort of biology field. While we chatted it began to snow. Not long after I started to cry b/c I was so uncomfortable, wet, cold and nervous about camping with a floorless tent in the rain. Will was calm and collected, hugged me and said everything would be fine. (He ended up being right). So we started to move again to stay warm. We really hustled and hiked 11 miles in 4.5 hours. We ate lunch in a shelter at a camp ground and still had 4 miles to go to our campground and our second food cache. Because moving = warmth we did not stop for long and were on our way again. On our way uphill to our cache we met the couple we had seen on our first day. They told us to expect more snow up above. Our designated camp ground for the evening was Mowich Lake. Here we picked up our second food cache. Will made some warm water and we ate some top romain to warm up. We decided to hike another 5 miles to a lower camp to get out of the snow and b/c we had covered the 15 miles for the day so quickly. As we started down to Ipsut Creek the weather cleared and we took off the ponchos for the first time that day. It was nice. At Ipsut it started to rain again. After chatting with some other hikers for a minute we hustled to put up our tent b/c it was getting dark. We cooked dinner in the tent and looked at the map again. We had gone 20 miles that day and had about 23 to the car. B/c the weather was not looking up and our stuff was getting wet, we decided to get up early and head for the car the next day, cutting our trip one day short. We ate two nights worth of dinners to get fueled and went to sleep. Day five we got up early and headed up hill. This day the weather kept changing - from light rain, to sun, to just overcast, to snow! It snowed more then anything else which actually was welcome and so much better then the rain b/c it wasn't as wet. At least my feet were dry and we didn't have to wear the ponchos. We tried to eat often and drink lots so we could keep up a good pace. We did well until around mile 16 when my knees just started to hurt so bad (from all the downhill) that I really slowed down. We found ourselves up at a high elevation in an open meadow type area and it was really starting to snow and blow. B/c I was moving so much slower, Will geared me up in warm clothes and took off running for the car. The plan was for him to run to the car and meet me at a campground/trailhead about 2.5 miles west of where our car was parked. He had wanted me to get in my sleeping bag and wait at Sunrise (about 6 miles from the car) but I couldn't image waiting around and the moving really did keep me warm. So off ran Will and I hobbled along. I got to White River camp ground around 3:15 and started walking to the main road where Will and I agreed to meet. Just as I got to the Ranger station Will pulled up. Our timing was perfect. We were drenched, exhausted and so happy. We took a few last photos, changed clothes and hopped in the car for home! All in all it was a great trip. The trial is fantastic and grueling. The downhills are killer, as both of our knees will confess. Will and I actually moved faster uphill then downhill. Mt. Rainer is beyond beautiful and everything is grand and gorgeous. We both would like to do this trip again - although maybe tack on about 4 more days and do it about 4 weeks earlier!! Cortney