Mt Rainier/Wonderland Trail : part two of three Mountain circumnavigation series

First full view of Rainier west of Longmire

Spring of 2012 I decided to put my name in for a permit to hike the Wonderland Trail around Mt Rainier.  Permits are required by the National Park Service for the Wonderland trail and are very limited, you can apply for the permit as early as March for the lottery in April.  Back in March sitting at my desk staring at a map of Mt Rainier I chose my route and campgrounds for the lottery based on reading other peoples blogs about their experience.  Because of my limited vacation time I wanted to hike the trail in 5 days, knowing at the time it would be ambitious but doable.  The trail is 93 miles long with 22,000 feet of elevation gain.

The route I chose in March and was approved for by the National Park Service was:
Start at Longmire - Golden lakes Camp - Mystic Camp - Summerland Camp - Maple Creek Camp - back to Longmire.  This route was 4 1/2 days with some 25 mile days.

What I ended up doing was:

Start at Longmire - 19.7 miles to North Puyallup River camp - 16.3 miles to Eagles Roost camp - 20.3 miles to Sunrise camp - 14.5 miles to Indian bar camp - 22.2 miles back to Longmire

Day 1:  I got off track the first day, which threw me off my assigned campsites for the rest of the trip.  I wasn't too worried about it because I talked to a few hikers that explained to me the flexibility of changing campsites when you ran into a ranger - many people add days or change their campsites based on weather, injury or are just in such a beautiful area they want to spend more time exploring.  I was also assured that there were a lot of rangers on the trail.  A friend of mine had decided the night before the hike that he was up for an adventure and came along, I was happy to have a companion to hike with.  We arrived at North Puyallup River Camp at 6:00 pm with 5 more miles to go, all up hill, to my first assigned camp site, Golden Lakes.  After hiking almost 20 miles that day we decided to stay at the group camp site instead of pressing on and finishing the hike in the dark.

first of three suspension bridges

Tahoma Glacier

Day 2:  On day 2 we met a Canadian guy who hikes the Wonderland Trail every year, usually in 4 days and usually in flip flops!  This year his wife had insisted he wear shoes, so he bought a pair of Nike frees to hike in.  Later that day at a river crossing we ran into a tall dread lock man with a strange vest with built in water bottles - turns out he had run the trail clock wise (the direction we were going), slept 45 minutes and was running counter clockwise for the record.  Check out his blog Raj the ultra runner.  

We set up camp at Eagles Roost camp, which is off the Wonderland trail on the Spray Park Trail.  Spray park trail is an alternative route that meets up with the wonderland trail, it is roughly the same distance and has a lot of elevation gain and is famous for the beautiful fields of wildflowers and waterfalls. The clouds were getting darker and the wind was picking up, when we arrived at the camp ground the rain started and then then thunder and lightening started and continued most of the night.  The storm that night was the same storm that started many forest fires near Wenachee WA, Mt Adams and we learned later a small one tree fire at Paradise on Mt Rainier that was quickly put out.  

view of Rainier from Eagles Roost watching the thunder storm move in

Day 3: We walked through Spay Park in the clouds, a bit of a disappointment knowing that the mountain was right there and the views would have been amazing.  Day three was a long trek to Sunrise camp, we still had not run into any rangers to make our camping "official".  We ran into two guys that we had met the the first day who were running around the mountain in three days, two nights in lodges and one night supported camping.  Idea for next year - anyone interested?

hiking through the wildflowers in Spay Park in the clouds

Carbon Glacier

Day 4:  was the most scenic day, it was clear, cold with stunning views of the mountain the entire day.  We hiked down to White River and then up to Summerland for lunch.  We met a couple from Canada that were hiking the trail in 14 days, stopping at every campsite.  This was their anniversary trip.  I was a bit envious of their schedule.  While our days were doable - there wasn't alot of time to simply enjoy where you were, it felt a little rushed.  With that in mind we cut the day short and camped at Indian Bar instead of Nickel Creek, our original destination.  Indian bar is a stunning  camp site with a river running through it.  It was there that I finally met a ranger.  And was properly put in my place for not keeping to my original camp sites.  I have no excuses and I don't recommend my technique to anyone.  But I will say I tried to find a ranger to change the trips as other hikers had and I know that we did not take any ones camp site, I was very careful to scout out the sites and always stayed in a group site when available.

hiking up Fryingpan Creek up to Summerland Camp

shelter at Summerland Camp site

highest point of the Wonderland trail - Panhandle Gap

looking down at Indian Bar Camp

camp site at Indian Bar

Day 5:  the last day.  We got an early start, it was going to be a long haul back to Longmire, the starting point.  We hiked to the interesting sounds of elk bugling in the high meadows that surrounded us.  The morning was crisp and clear.  We spent a lot of time on the ridge above Indian Bar taking pictures and taking in the views - we could see Mt Hood, Mt Adams and St Helen's.  We were both kind of dragging our feet not wanting the hike to end.  Once we dropped down to Nickel creek and were in the woods it was fast moving, our pace picked up and we made good time back to Longmire.  4:00 pm, we were cleaning up at Longmire and thinking about where to get a burger.

sunrise at Indian bar

morning view of Rainier

hiking in the forest near Nickel Creek camp site

trail near Stevens Canyon 

view of Rainier from Nisqually River - 1.6 miles to Longmire

GEAR:
I tried to keep it as light as reasonably possible - I am a minimalist but not an extreme ultra light hiker.  My gear consisted of small, light 2 person tent, sleeping bag and light thermarest,  no stove.  All my food was pre-cooked.  Water was treated with a water filter.  I hiked in vasque low hikers, light but more support than my running shoes, no need for gators.

trail foot wear - my ten toed friend suffered a few blisters
 but overall was pretty happy with the gloves on his feet

FOOD:
4 breakfasts - protein bar or peanut butter and jelly sandwich
5 lunches - peanut butter and jelly sandwich
4 dinners - rice and bean burritos with kale (rice and beans precooked and mixed together in a bag with salsa).  The salsa started to go bad on the 4th day so I ate it for lunch and dinner and had my lunch for dinner the last night.
snacks - lots of Larabars, Clif mojo bars (favorite chocolate, almond and coconut), trader joe's bars, almonds and fruit leather
protein powder for emergency back up


RESOURCES:
The map I used was the National Geographic: Mount Rainier 217 map
Wonderland Trail
http://www.wonderlandtrailguide.com/
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/travel/04wonderland.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0