Wonderland Trail

“My son, brother and two nephews and I hiked the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier this summer, July 19-31.
WOW!!!! We had the time of our lives. The wildlife, scenery, people, etc. were fantastic.

Anybody else out there do the Wonderland this summer?”

“Did you do the entire trip around Rainer?”

“Not to jump all over you but that's pretty skimpy a trip report!! I am very interested in hearing more about this trip. I have thought of hitting some or all of it sometime.”

“Wonderland is definitely on my to do list. How were the crowds and what is the best time to go? I hear minimum of 10 days, how true is that.”

“I hear it's pretty hard, all up and down. The western section usually doesn't have as many people but the bears can be bad.”

“Great fun and so close to Seattle but you sure don't feel like it when your there. East side is good. I like the west side around Summerland and Indian Bar. The lower west side is wooded and doesn't afford the views. Sunset to Mystic Lake is a nice day hike on the north end. Kinda of a long day hike but interesting. I try to go in early August. Still snow fields in high spots. Alpine flowers peaking. Bugs manageable. Often just bag it at night and never use the tent. Fondest memory was skinny dipping with a back country Ranger lady I meet on the trail. Actually I was naked but she kept her hat on.”

“JO I think we'd all love a trip report and to see pictures, please.”

“I'm thinking of doing it next summer. I hear it's a beautiful trail.”

“We did the Wonderland over Labor Day last year. It was awesome! The group I went with took 9 days and 2 of the days were short ones. I caught up with the group on day 3. We started the trail counter clockwise. Most start clockwise. The blueberries were an absolutely bumper crop. We didn't even see or hear from any bears. We figured they were too full of blueberries to care about our food. It is definitely a hike I'll do again.. and again.. and again.. Anxious to see your pictures. Here are a few of mine: http://community.com/user/hikinglady”

“Uhhh, no-go for me ladyhiker. I cut and pasted and nuttin' but a computer sales page. Shewt JO give up some kinda dang adventure report! Some stats on the trail, and some when and how info is good too. It's on my For Sure list to thru-hike someday.”

“Day One
WE started at Longmire and went about six miles to Devil's Dream.
Snow up there.

Day Two
Up through considerable snow past Indian Henry's where we got our first good look at the Mother Mountain....WOW!
About another six to South Puyallup.


Day Three
More up and down and very rugged.
We got our first look at marmots in the open places above tree line.
About six miles to North Puyallup.

Day Four
UP through the giant trees to Golden Lakes.
This is a very pretty place with a nice lake for a good cold swim.
This and Indian Bar where my favorites.

Day Five
Way down to Mowich River, where we had a real adventure crossing this massive glacial thing.
This was our first long day.....eleven miles.
By the time we humped the final 4-5 miles UP to Mowich Lake we were all droolin' and mumblin' and staggerin'.
Our first food drop was waiting for us there.
In my bucket was a half-liter of George Dickel 90 proof bourbon!
Uh, there was food too.

Day Six
We took the detour through Spray Park.....WOW!!!
The trip DOWN to Carbon River was yet another knee-killing descent and another of what would be ten-mile days for the duration.
We camped among fallen giants and bathed in the ice-cold creek there.

Day Seven
The trip up to Marmotville and out of the trees was more of the down and up which had become our lot in life.
We stayed near Granite Creek....there was no room at the inn.

Day Eight
About a mile up from Granite Creek is Skyscraper Pass and peak of the same name.
We dropped our packs and went to the top......WOW....nice view!
Later at Sunrise we had greaseburgers and fries and picked up our second food drop......mo' booze!
From Sunrise it was about four more to White River Camp where we camped among......CAR CAMPERS!!!
Eye-eeeeeeee!

Day Nine
The hump to Summerland was a huge one.
We lunched there above treeline again and got a good look at the mountain.
The journey from there to Indian Bar was tough and "perilous" over lots of snow fileds and rocky stuff.
Indian Bar has an old stone shelter with eight bunks and views are excellent.

Day Ten
We climbed up from INdian Bar through more snow and miles of ridge-runnin'.
Along the way we saw a little black bear of the "cinnamon" color.
OUr last night was at Maple Creek Camp.

Day Eleven
It was nine miles to Longmire and we arrived just before 3:00.
The few, the proud, the Wonderland Trail Through-hikers!

95 miles total”

“awesome. I hope to do that trip in a year or 2”

“Uh..........Day Eleven was ten miles....whatever

Do it

Do it

Do it

It is the ultimate trail

We met a couple of "racehorses" out there who were doing it in SIX DAYS!!!”

“Does anyone have pictures from there trip that we can look at?”

“Search for
"Wonderland Trail 2000"

Those boys put up a hell of a nice site with great photos and day to day description of their hike.”

“A few friends and I have begun planning a Wonderland trip for next summer. Tom would it be better to began at Sunrise Trailhead? It seems like everyone walks clockwise beginning at Longmire. How long does it take to get from Seattle to Mt Rainier NP and what type of transportation is available? Between mid July and mid September what time would be the least crowded?”

“Ahhh, the beautiful Wonderland Trail.
Come one, come all!

Here's some hikers getting ready to leave the trailhead.


Here's one of the loverly shelters along the trail.


Here's the breathtaking view down the Mowich River valley.


Here's an example of the varied wildlife you'll encounter!


Warshington...it's not just for Californicators anymore!”

“Thanks Tom Terrific - I checked out the Wonderland Trail 2000 site and they do have some great pictures.”

“Well,.......... Tom Terrific provided the trip report, so what more can I say?

We did start at Longmire and go clockwise. Next time and there will be a next time for sure, I would travel counterclockwise to get that perspective.

The west side had a more remote and wild feel as you walked through dense forests with less views, but still definitely beautiful. Fewer people too. The wildlife was great. 2 bears (yearlings probably) nibbling on new growth shoots, a gang of mountain goats, marmots, stellar jays. No pikas, elk or mtn lions.,
but we did see fresh cat and elk scat.

We ran into a good number of people from Sunrise on to Longmire, especially around Summerland. The hike from Indian Bar to Nickel Creek was shrouded in fog. Otherwise it never rained.

This was the best hike of my life. It was beautiful and physically challenging......... definitely lived up to my expectations. My son thought up the trip and spent his birthday hiking from Golden Lakes to Mowich Lake. We will always remember this trip and plan on returning ASAP.

We met a guy on the trail who was also from Baltimore named Larry. If you're out there LArry, HI!”

“Yes, I think I'll start looking into doing this trip. Anyone else interested for next August or September?”

“I might be, I have family in Seattle.”

“trailhound57
We started July 17 and there was plenty of snow in places.
It was wet and packed and there was no problem with post-holing.
Traversing some of the steep snow fields was #&%!$in' and required serious edging to keep from sliding WAAAAAAAYYYYYY the hell down the mountain.
And since we were going clockwise the right leg was almost always the uphill leg........kinda like skiing and not being able to do a "hop turn" so the other leg can share the load.

The "wild" west side was the loneliest and some kinda rugged.
We camped alone until the fifth night at Mowich Lake.
Matter of fact, the only sites with other campers were Granite Creek, White River, and Indian Bar.”

“What are y'alls recommended suggestions?? Clockwise, or otherwise? Is it best to start w/ the east side and finish up along the remote west one? July an awesome start month? Recommend taking cramps? Are 12 days great, suggest taking more/less? Wonderful thanx for the info folks!!”

“Twelve days is good.
We were runnin' hot(battle ready) in the last few days and decided to do the whole ten miles from Maple Creek to Longmire.
So we humped it out and got to the car just before 3:00 PM.

I think it would have been a good idea to lay-over an extra day somewhere about half-way.
We absolutely busted our humps every day.
A day of rest would have been highly appropriate.

Hmmmmm,
I liked starting at Longmire.
Next time('04) we want to go auntie-clockwise from Longmire.
Sunrise is very pretty and its high(Longmire is in a valley and a bit more rustic) but seemed to be teeming with tourists.

Sunrise was my first sight of "non-fit" people in a week.
We strolled on into the restaurant there walkin' tall, lookin' kinda dirty, and stankin'.
It felt funny being under a roof.
At least they had the doors propped open and there was a breeze blowin' through to make us feel at home.

Next time I swear that I will pack lighter!
I was hoping to keep it under 40# but was humpin' close to FIFTY!
We had too much food and at each of our food-drops we left lots of goodies behind.
I suppose over-kill is better than malnutrition and we left lots of good stuff for the knuckleheads who were goin' hungry.

I lost ten pounds in my train-up March through June.
And I lost ten more on the trail.
I did an extra ten miles per week of power-walking(I power-walk twelve mile per week commuting to work)
Each weekend during that period that I wasn't backpacking(I went once each month) I would go to a hilly county park near home and do five miles with a thirty pound rucksack.

I plan on running lots of steps/stairs around my campus for the next BIG ADVENTURE.
That'll be six nights in the Grand Canyon starting Christmas Day!!!
That is the best time to go there.

Oh, crampons......
We had a lot of snow fields and in quite a few places things got a little hairy.
I don't think that I would take 'em but next time I will bring a 8mm X 30m rope(2lbs) and a few 'beeners.”

“Awesome trip report my man! So I now know why you disappeared for a while.”

“yes, I'd really like to do this one.”

“Hey Tom great thanx! I'm thankin' '04 as well. Either that, or the section of the PCT from Lake Tahoe to Tuolemne Meadows.

For now I expect that I'll be able to do one big trip a year ... or hope to. This year just didn't turn out that way tho with the lingering snow, and non-lingering fetus.

So Tom would ya do it in July again?”

“I guess July is good.
They say the bugs are worst st "the peak of summer" and that may be in late August, I'm not sure.

We were eaten by bugs only a few times and in different kinds of places.
One was a high meadow with its marmots and another was in the woods by a major creek.

I sure hope to do one big trip a year, the clock is runnin' and I'm not gettin' any younger.”

“Anybody doing the Wondrland this summer? I'm missing it something awful”

“Reservations are made and tickets are bought but were still trying to figure out getting from Seattle to Rainier in a timely matter without having to shell out a huge amount of cash.”

“Last summer we....six of us....rented a minivan for the duration.

It was a bit cheaper than the shuttle and we had unlimited miles and MOBILITY.

We also were able to tour the peninsula after the hike.....total of about 700 miles.

Highway 101 is very nice.

Lake Crescent, north of Olympic Park, is beautiful with Hwy 101 right on the shore.

We had two nights to kill before flying home and camped at Fort Worden near Port Townsend.
Its a cheap place to flop with showers..... $8 per night for walk-in sites.
Port Townsend is a nice tourist town away from the big metropolis with shops and restaurants and a nice brewpub.

Take me with yooooooooo!!!!!!!!!”

“trailhound57

That's a tough one.

We rented a van (expensive) and parked it at Longmire.

There is a shuttle service to and from the airport.

When are you going? I'm excited for you. You're going to love it. I dream about the place still... like no other place I've been.”

“Yeah, a rental vehicle has been considered and thus far our cheapest option. Well, actually the tourist bus is cheaper but not and option; it takes all day to get there. It seems like someone could do well for themselves by being a chauffer service for small parties of hikers.”

“The last week of July.”

“By the way th57....if you have any kind of physical malady like say a recently sprained ankle don't do it. Hell of a place to have a breakdown. The trail is challenging and very rough on your feet, legs, knees.”

“That's when our intrepid group of elite,crack backpackers was there. Fantastic. Keep me informed.
Hopefully we can go back next year.”

“...and be on the trail for 11 days.”

“Us too buddy.....11 days from Longmire to Longmire with every day in between a wonder. No $hit... every day there was something ( several things) to stop and say " oh my god" at. Jaw dropping beauty. In addition it never rained the whole time.”

“Rain is one of my concerns. I don't mind rain but hate caring rain gear. I usually carry only a small ultralight jacket. It’s usually the least routinely used items in your pack. But you only need it when you need it. BTW were going to mail food to be cashed at Longmire (trailhead is Sunrise) but really don't know what would be good to ship it in. The only stipulation is that it must be mouse proof. I've heard of people using laundry detergent buckets with a threaded screw on top. What does everyone else use?”

“Wonderland is on near the top of my to-do list. I'll be very interested in your trip report.”

“Maybe next summer - that's a trail I'd like to do.”

“yep planning on a early September trip next year myself.”

“sirpete: September of 2004? Is September a good month for that trip?”

“Yeah, sometimes when i'm on the trail, i wonder where the hell in this land i am too.”

“th57

We mailed food and supplies in 5 gallon paint buckets with snap-on lids. We wrote the address info right on it and duct taped the bejesus out of it. Everything went fine, except for that we sent too much stuff and ended up giving away a lot. With all those hills (46,000 ft of elev change) you become very weight conscience. There is a free pantry at Sunrise that some hikers we met utilized for supplies. They liked our choices.

As far rain gear, my son and I both took along a lightweight rain jacket ( Red Ledge from Campmor )and of course never used it. We did need our fleece jackets and wool hats though....below freezing the morning of July 20th. Ice on a pond...hard to imagine it. He brought rain pants and I brought fleece pants. In late July you should be fine.

Best wishes.”

“Does anyone have a book on the Wonderland Trail they can suggest? I like reading up on trails.”

“Is October too late for this trail?”

“WingDingO

I'm not that familiar with the trail..(east coaster) I have been doing some research and reading a lot of trip reports from those searches. It seems that there can still be a good deal of snow in the higher elevations well into july depending on the winter and spring thaw. Most of the better reports that I have read were where people did the trip in August. I was thinking about a late August start or like the first of September. I like cooler weather. the only concern I have is that later summer trips can have more unpredictable weather. I'm still in the research stage nothing in stone, throwing feelers out there to see if there is any interest from others for I don't plan to do it alone. This year is definitly out so next year is the year for sure.”

“'Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail Encircling Mount Ranier' by Bette Filley

This is a detailed book about the trail. Good info on all legs of the trip and where/how to send food and get permits. Good info. I just need to quit reading the book and go out and actually hike the trail.”

“Sirpete,

Keep me in mind. I missed a shot a couple years ago, and am interested.”