Hiking The Wonderland at Mount Rainier National Park

Getting Ready for the Wonderland Trail

July 11 2024

We’d need to leave early tomorrow since was going to be a rush to beat the morning traffic up to Longmire on Mt. Rainier. We also wanted to carbo-load with some Cubanos at Un Buen for dinner tonight. Since they stopped serving around 8pm, we had to say goodbye to our friends and leave our Volleyball game early.

Longmire to South Puyallup

July 12 2024

Luckily the rush was never an issue since we got through the gate with only one car ahead of us. When we got to Longmire, we scrutinized our WT itinerary with the help of the Ranger. We were able to give ourselves the option to compress our trip by a day by skipping Maple Creek if we wanted. I couldn’t imagine our trip taking 14 days as one of their guides suggested. But we’ll see if our revised itinerary would prove too strenuous. 

We started our hike around 9:30am towards our first campsite, South Puyallup River. After crossing the Tahoma Creek, which was actually a huge glacier river with a large suspension bridge, we encountered our first park ranger on the trail. He provided some ‘beta spray’, which as I to find out was when someone else on the trail gives away insights about the trail that you otherwise would’ve needed to discover on your own. I was thankful for the spray, as he mentioned that a creek on our way to campsite would be our last source of water, and that it would behoove of us to stop there to fill up. I had every intention of getting into the river to wash off. The ranger also asked about a hiker who he had heard was in tears at the top of next ridge line. We hadn’t heard anything for any other passing hikers and dismissed the issue.

We circled over the treeline and had remarkable views of Mt Rainier for the first time. Once I reached the top of Emerald Ridge, I looked down to see Mia. Right behind her was a marmot. We both laughed that the Marmot was like a wild Ume Fuku Papa (an Insta famous Pekingese dog). The view from the top of emerald ridge was beautiful, as closely resembled Iceland. Taking in the landscape and the meandering trail, it was clear that they call the Trail the Wonderland, for various reason, including the fact that it’s a place to meander and wonder about the environment without the pressures of daily life.

We reached the campsite around 7pm, at which point we quickly lost the Patrick and Thomas since they overshot it. We regrouped, set up camp and had our first attempt to hang the 30lb food bag on the bear pole. It was a very nice evening, where we played Kemps and enjoyed tortellini with pesto, tomatoes and red wine. Mia had also thrown in some salami. It was a relaxing evening, where the group had the opportunity to get to know each other better, since not everyone had met each other yet.

South Puyallup to Golden Lakes

July 13 2024

We woke up at about 9am, having slept about 11 hours. I even had a dream about accountability and whether I should take the initiative to wake up or not. We had a slow start to the morning, and had an opportunity to look at the geometric rock formations that swooped down towards you under the South Puyallup campsite. They were mysterious and unimaginable, apparently formed by quickly coole basalt. And around 12:30 stopped for a swim at St. Andrew’s lake. 

Further down the trail, we stopped for lunch at a very muddy, glacier river. We were warned not to filter water at the glacial rivers because they would clog our filters. On our way to the lunch spot, we ran into the Ranger who checked us in at Longmire. She mentioned that her and her friend were taking a secret entrance up to the North Puyallup camp site, and would be seeing us again at Golden Lakes. She also mentioned that the camper we had heard about yesterday who was in tears at the top of Emerald Ridge was found. The Ranger was guarded, and just mentioned that the hiker was in over her head.

The Ranger also mentioned some interesting facts about the Glaciers, namely that glaciers look dirty because of soot deposited From forest fires, watermelon snow, and rockfall from above. The Watermelon colored snow is caused by algae that produces red pigment in addition to chlorophyll. 

The Ranger and her friend left and made room for us on the picturesque lunch counter they had found. Mia had made some of her famous bagel sandwiches lunches, which we enjoyed next to the river, roaring off of Tahoma glacier. During lunch we laughed about random topics, ranging from our childhood to serial killers. We laughed that Mia’s school growing up was slightly more privileged, and while her biology class included dissecting fish, we were dissecting owl pellets; probably found by the teacher the day before. One of the members of the group, Patrick, mentioned that it turned out a serial killer was living in his neighborhood as he was growing up in San Francisco. We wondered why there were fewer serial killers now, and I’d come to find out it’s largely because of Social Emotional Learning curriculums implemented in public schools.

On our way down to Golden Lakes campground, we hiked past some uncordial trail runners. We laughed that their uncordiality was because they were trail runners and we were hikers in their way – typical of peoples in different modes of transportation, like pedestrians vs. drivers.

We reached golden lakes at about 5:30pm, just as the ranger came out of the nearby meadows to alert us to the bear and two cubs who had started grazing there. We watched the mother bear from across the pond until she had left and the coast was clear. I had received some intel from a couple of boys who had just come up from the lake, mentioning spot #5 was a good campsite. Campsite #5 was indeed a great campsite, and would later give us views of the entire valley that evening as we ate dinner and played cards together.

After getting camp setup, we jumped in the pond near the ranger cabin. There was a great island in the middle we all swam at. Thomas named it golden island. Patrick and Thomas went back to camp, and Mia and I had time to sunbathe by the lake a little longer until the mosquitoes descended.

We returned to camp and found a beautiful perch above the valley, near our campsite. Mia cooked a delicious couscous, which we probably ate too much of. We played Rummy until it was too dark to see, at which point we turned in, looking forward to a day of hard climbing tomorrow.

Golden Lakes to Cataract via Spray Park

July 14 2024

I woke up in the middle of night and made my way to the privy. I was fearful of a surprise from a nighttime bear. Luckily, no bears appeared and I was able to return to the tent for a very restful slumber. I dreamt about riding a unique t-bar chairlift, that was operating taking skiers downhill, instead of up. The t-bar also required the assistance of a partner to get down. I recall doing complex maneuvers around my partner as we went down. At the bottom I surreptitiously retrieved the bar in order to ride up. 

Ultra-light was the topic at breakfast. We were asking interesting questions, like when will we become UL backpackers? Are they fastidious about keeping their great clean in order to reduce weight? 

We started on our difficult hiking day. As we were hiking, I thought a little about suffering. I thought about how much more bearable suffering is when it’s shared. I thought about how this hike wasn’t so bad since I was experiencing it with friends and were in it together. I was also thinking about my upcoming fast, and how going without food for a few days as a group would be easier than fasting alone. Shared suffering is much easier than lonesome suffering. In fact shared suffering almost builds community and kinship.

On our way up to Mowich lake, I was feeling in the zone and fast. I was thinking about tackling tasks like I do these segments of the trail – just taking them as they come and taking them down without too much thought. My mind was racing I guess and at the sametime, I was thinking optimistically about the prospect of a new job. I’ll see when I get back whether the job I had interviewed for before leaving panned out.

We ate another of Mia’s delicious bagels at the Eagles Nest. We were looking back at Golden Lakes. The trail stretched about 10 miles back behind us. We could see huge glaciers breaking off down from the summit of mt rainier. A tremendous amount of water was flowing from the waterfalls. After lunch, we then hiked out about .5 mile to spray falls where even more grandeur awaited us. The falls originated at the top of the cliff about 300 hundred feet above us and terminated up the slope. Fresh snow melt then tumbled down an alpine river right past us. We swam and enjoyed the afternoon dipping in and out of the water. 

It had been strenuous getting to this point in our 17 mile hike today. It was also getting late in the day. But with the encouragement of the spring time snow melt and the spray from the waterfall we were renewed with energy and motivation to keep with the trail. Next we were going to see spray park via a last minute detour planned in whim with the ranger at Longmire, mere minutes before we set off on this weeklong adventure. We were keen to see how this bet would pay off.. From there we hiked up to Spray park – one of the highlights of the WT for most hikers. Mia mentioned that her bag had been getting heavier, but that was likely the result of us distributing the food more evenly. Luckily, as we hike towards Sunrise, we’d clear out some of our food stores and lessen our weight. 

We passed up into Spray Park. With sweeping views of cascading glaciers on mt rainier. Many of which looked like they were about to slide off of the mountains. The views on spray park were nothing short of magnificent. I came across a couple of guys hiking who were equally amazed by the views. We also came across a couple groups of skiers who had apparently come down from Russell and Flat glaciers. 

I washed up by the River and found myself in a sultry mood. A page in Walden was inspiring and reminded me that there’s no greater miracle than looking into the eyes of your fellow man. I pushed through my afternoon slump and laughed about my low-brow appreciation of cheap wines. Although I thought we made an interesting point that products at the low end, carry the majority of value as compared to high-value products.

During our hike, we found that our estimates on elevation and distance were incorrect, sometimes by a mile or more. Mia, being a GIS expert, mentioned that the quality of topographical maps has become so high that since every little contour of trails is recorded, the elevation gain on a topo map is typically exaggerated. 

At the top of Spray Park, I saw Patrick looking off into the distance, north west. I came into his  vicinity  to find that he was looking in the direction of a small black bear, maybe 300ft in the distance. The bear was calmly grazing, albeit with an aura of being able to charge us at any moment. We were quiet, careful not to trigger the animal. Mia joined us and took in the scene. 

Mia said the bowls on my backpack sounded like a bear bell to ward them off. I said maybe it made our troop more like the knights from Monty Python. Mia would’ve had the coconuts at the back to mimic the sound of an impressive group of horses. Hiking through the bear grasses was surreal and we’d all remember our time there. These moments, this afternoon, this environment has existed for thousands of years. It reminds you that these incredible things exist all the time and are alway available to be experienced. 

From there, we passed through several other vistas and snow fields. It was laborious to get to the Cataract Campsite, taking another 4 1/2 hrs. At camp, the mosquitoes were relentless. Luckily we had bug nets. We had freeze dried meals for dinner and played a game of memory. Afterwchih Thomas taught us Egyptian slap. By the time we finished, camp had become dark and the mosquitoes had left thankfully. We went to bed early, knowing that we had a hard 15 mile hike ahead of us tomorrow, with some 5k in elevation to reach sunrise camp.

Cataract Camp to Sunrise

July 15 2024

The freeze dried meals must have upset my mind, since my dreams were upsetting and intense. Amongst much worse dreams, I had one where I was at a house in Tacoma I lived in during college. I was looking at buying the house and converting it into multi-family. It wasn’t bad because more and more rooms and kitchens kept appearing as I toured it. There was even one part that was locked away. I’m interested in fixer houses and was excited by watch I was seeing. I did, however, find that there was a chicken leg painted into the wall upstairs with the same powder used to coat fried chicken. 

My woke up looking especially, like a recently birthed baby. At breakfast we talked about how nice it would be if mosquitoes were eradicated. But figured there would be a least a few externalities if we got rid of them. Like other much worse insects would emerge, like a butterfly that swoop down and crawl under your skin. Natures way of saying be careful what you wish for. Ultimately, I joked that I won’t be donating blood anytime soon, because I’ve already given so much of it of this trip

We luckily, talked about other topics, like what was to come for the day. It sounds like the order of the day is steep. We’d see how we fair on the trail with some soreness from the previous days and our new collection of mosquitoes bites. Thomas, the only millennial in the group abstained from coffee saying he thinks once you start you can stop. A bit like spice addiction from Dune. 

I felt some trail frustration as the group moved far ahead of me. I’m having thoughts about group trial dynamics and about how members of the group have different objectives. It’s always been my objective to move quickly in the alpine because more time equals more risk. But also, other members might want to move slower. I think it takes a lot of intelligence in the alpine to understand where you are and to look at the margin that’s available and change your plans according to meet everyone’s objectives.

We descended and crossed the Carbon River and ascended to an incredible ridge line with sweeping views of Mt. Rainier. We looked down a little snow bank to find a little marmot scurrying up the snow bank. Looking like the little Ume Fuku Papa adorned by Mia he laid pronated on the snow bank just feet below us. We watched as he scurried around us and began digging a hole not far from me. After looking into it I couldn’t tell what he was digging and eating. We figured it was his way of indicating he was hungry. 

Sunrise to Indian Bar Camp

July 16 2024

I had an interesting dream related to the amount of food I had eaten the night before. I had a difficult time waking up this morning. I was kept up last night in account of having eaten some espresso after dinner by accident. This morning, Mia basically had to drag me out of the tent. 

Getting out of the tent, the mosquitoes were about as aggressive as those as Cataracts Camp. But while the creatures seem demonic, it’s in their nature. And it’s up to us to monitor them and not tempt their nature.

As we walked down the final stretch to Sunrise, I pondered on the value of trails. It takes years to build and thousands of man-hours to build trails. Trails are nothing less than critical infrastructure, essential to passing through terrain. It wasn’t until late, that we neared sunrise camp. We saw a family of urbanites. Immediately, Patrick turned around and with a smiles signaled that we were close to camp.

We arrived at camp, set up, and made our way to the lake before making dinner and closing down shop. Tomorrow we’d be going to most beautiful camp, Indian Bar.

I did not sleep well last night and am looking forward to sleeping in at Indian Gap. We have the option to skip maple pass on the way back and go straight to longmire tomorrow. However, that would be a 20 mile day. So far it sounds like Mia would like to break it into two hiking days, mild and more enjoyable. Especially since we’re technically on break. 

We stopped by a lake for a swim on our way to White River Campground. Today we would be picking up our cache of food. The journey there was wondrous and filled with extra terrestrial environments. It had also been filled with more otherworldly, alien creatures than in all the sci-fi I’ve seen. The Dragon flies, for instance, were wondrous. Another fly had the most incredible translucent underside. You could literally see its organs pulsating inside of it.

The mushrooms we see are only the fruiting body of the core is the fungus. 99% of the fungus is underground shrouded from view. Is there any truth to the same structure applying to the wondrous plants on this trail? Could it be that all the forests we see are just the fitting bodies of the structures that lie beneath?

After picking up our food cache at the White River Ranger Station, it was an easy 5 miles to Summerland. The first 3 miles were flat, then just about 1 mile up to Summerland. We found a group shelter at summer land and started breaking out the booty (food cache). I had spicy Thai tuna on top of ‘fitness bread’, a dense pumpernickel bread from Switzerland. The dread sweet potatoes snacks had already become a fam favorite. 

From summerland we cross a couple icy lakes and into the panhandle gap. This was Mia’s favorite portion she took time at reflection lake to take photos of the pristine waters. We came over a ridge line and had sweeping views of a waterfalls pouring into a mile wide valley, lined with 200ft rock walls. Down below we could see Indian Bar campground far below in the valley. That’s where we’d be camping for the night. 

It was magical descending into the valley. We found our campsite some distance from the main camp. We took dips in the raging river before making our way back to camp and making dinner.

Indian Bar to Maple Creek Camp

July 17 2024

Incredible morning. Holy smokes. We woke up around 9am, packed up and made our way back down to the river for a cold bath and breakfast. I spent a lot of time in that water and thoroughly enjoyed our time suspended in this wonderful place. I thought about how easy it is to get distracted by things that don’t matter. It’s moments like these where you can relax and release the many unnecessary desires and imperatives that distract us. 

We had caught rays of sun at the creek this morning, but that turned to overcast quick. We hiked for several miles before coming to ridge that gave up an overlook of Mt. Adams. Mammatus clouds (“Mammary  Clouds”) had closed in around us and darkened the day somewhat. That combined with the trees we’re now walking through is making for a bit less energy since the last couple of days were remarkable. 

On the way down from the ridgeline, I had a thought about gear choice. I figured when choosing between having two pairs of shoes. Each of lower quality but suited for different needs I might be best to choose the single pair that is higher quality but serves both needs.

We reached nickel creek and had lunch near the river. Everyone was in good spirits at this point. We talked about our free food hacks, and even dumpster diving for food. We even saw a couple by the river with fold out chairs and newspapers. Later when we reached box canyon we met these two hikers. They had apparently come from North Carolina and obtained WT permits via the lottery. 

We reached maple creek campground around 4:30 and pitched our tents. We made our way down to the river to rinse off. The water was perfect and strong. We hung out by the water for some time before brewing fresh miso and drinking some fireball. Thomas had ventured far up the river before coming down for soup. We all enjoyed hanging out for some time before meandering up to the campsite to set up for dinner. 

That night we played an epic game of Rummy. Patrick won several rounds, but Thomas ultimately won the celestial championship in a final rematch. Turns out he’s a semi-pro poker player at the casinos around his hometown of Gig Harbor.

Maple Creek to Longmire

July 18 2024

I dreamt that the job interview I had before leaving on the trip was very difficult and involved some kind of networking wiring. Afterwards, they informed me that it was a very difficult decision but they had gone with someone else. (This would eventually become true as I’d receive the feedback once I was back in cell service later in the day.)

We woke up and made our way to the Longmire Trailhead. En route to the trailhead, we walked along the river. It was a good sign that we were seeing more urbanites in sweatpants as it meant we were nearing the end of the journey. We were saddened to be completing the hike and contemplated starting the circuit again. But responsibilities waited for us back in civilization so we took the incredible experiences from this trip and were already looking forward to next great trip that awaits us.