Wonderland Trail: Part Two

Day 5

I set an alarm for 7, and couldn’t wait to get out of there. It was chilly, but the sky was clear and I was in good spirits. I was packed, fed and mentally prepared for my day by 7:45. I felt strong, like I finally had my trail legs. I’d been on long trips before, but this one was different. I paced myself. I let myself take breaks when I needed and ate as many snacks as I wanted. It was nice to feel sore, but not be in pain.

This is what I look like five days in.

I hiked by Mowich Lake and up to Ipsut Pass. The trail appeared to end. I looked around and realized the trail goes down. And it drops a lot. I knew this would wreak havoc on my knees, so I popped another ibuprofen, stopped for a snack and collected myself. I made sure my trekking poles were dialed and my shoes were tied tight. I half ran-half hiked the switchbacks, letting my thighs absorb most of the impact. 

Ipsut Pass (I think.)

I reached the bottom of the pass and eventually reached a sign for Ipsut Camp. I’d hiked this section before. I knew it was fairly mellow leading into the Carbon River, so I sped up a little, in order to give myself a longer break at the river. I hung out, ate talked to two hikers that I would run into many times during the rest of my trip, and filtered water, drinking 32 oz before I left. The next section was a steady, but mellow, uphill to Dick Creek Camp. As I began hiking alongside the Carbon Glacier, I told myself that I’d take a break at the suspension bridge- probably 20 minutes or so. Not one minute later, I nearly blew right by it. I stopped for a break, and started talking to three hikers. They were really nice and we chatted for a bit before they continued on. They were heading to Mystic Lake Camp. 

I hadn’t seen anyone who was also going to Dick Creek Camp. I was a little worried that I’d be the only one at camp that night. I was getting used to the sense of community I found at camp, and after my night at Mowich, new friends would be nice.

I hiked up and up and up past the Carbon Glacier and crossing Dick Creek before reaching camp. Scott and Robin were there, taking a break. I set my pack down and talked to them a bit. I found out we’d be at the same camp for the next two nights. They pushed on and I hung out at camp for a bit, exploring the area, filtering water and doing laundry in Dick Creek. My campmates arrived around 7pm... Right around bed time for me. My site was right on the edge, over looking the carbon glacier and river. It was cool to hear the rockfall and rushing water all night.

Camp at Dick Creek

Day 6

7:45. I was up and anxious to get moving. I was a little cold and antsy. I was hitting Sunrise tonight. I was looking forward to a real bathroom and access to a phone to give my parents a call. I had three miles to go before hitting Mystic Lakes camp. This stretch of the trail was beautiful. I hiked through meadows and wooded areas and finally came across a beautiful lake which, after consulting my map, could only be Mystic Lake. 

En route to Mystic Lake.

I reached mystic lake camp and took my break. It was around 9:30, and Scott and Robin were packing up to hit the trail. We played leap frog for the remainder of the afternoon. I took a break by the Emmonds Glacier (I think) and shoveled banana chips and a clif bar into my mouth. Snacks were becoming the highlight of my days. Not much different from my everyday life.

The trail kind of dragged from the last campsite to Skyscraper Pass. I didn’t realize how close I was to Sunrise until I arrived there. I briefly considered hiking up Skyscraper, but I was four miles from camp and a bathroom. I’d come back and do it later in the season. 

I ate lunch with a view of Mount Baker (according to some random hiker) and the ever present Mount Rainier. It was weird seeing so many people on this section. As I ate my snickers and EPIC bar, I looked towards the trail and saw white spots in the grass about half a mile down. Mountain goats. Finally!

I hadn’t seen a goat yet, and I saw twelve all at once. My hike into Sunrise was a mellow four miles. I practically skipped the rest of the way. I got to the visitor center and called my people- to reassure them I was alive and well. I filled up on clean water at the bubbler and hiked back to the trail to camp. I set up, boiled water, soaked my Ramen noodles and chugged some water and electrolytes. It was really hot today and I was definitely dehydrated. I wasn’t too sunburnt, but my lips were chapped and I wasn’t peeing nearly enough. 

I wandered over to Scott and Robin’s site. We ate dinner together. Mine was surprisingly good. Chili ramen, with thai style tuna, dehydrated peppers and peanut butter. I wish I packed more of that. We drank some wine (!!!) they had put in their cache and enjoyed some chocolate. The sun began going down and I started to shiver a little. I retired for the night and listened to Serial until my phone died.

Day 7

I decided I needed to let myself sleep in. I hadn’t done that since Klapatche, and my body needed it. I woke up around 9, ate half a snickers bar and a chia bar and started towards White River. I had Muddy Buddies in my food cache. I hadn’t been so excited for Muddy Buddies since my college late-night-snack-run days.

The switchbacks out of Sunrise were pretty rough on my knees, but the three or so miles went by quick... because muddy buddies. I opened by food cache, stoked for everything I had packed myself. I had more tortillas, which were my favorite thing on the trail. I ate my Muddy Buddies in record time. It was pretty warm and very clear, but I was finally getting to explore the East side of the park. 

I passed a big group of familiar faces- park employees and volunteers who were hiking counter clockwise together. We chatted for a bit and I hiked until I reached the Frying Pan Gap Trailhead, where I ate two tortillas with tuna and hot sauce. I hadn’t had such a satisfying meal since Klapatche. 

The hike to Summerland was nice. There were lots of people on the trail. It was a mellow, but steady uphill. When I reached Summerland, I relaxed at my site and did some exploring. I saw more goats and ate dinner with Scott and Robin again. I heard a few big rumbles from the mountain. It’s weird to be so close to the action, but feel so far from the summit. We watched the sunset from the creek outside of camp and I fell asleep to rock fall, yet again.

Sunrise from Summerland

Day 8

I woke up at 6:30 to catch the sunrise on the mountain. It was absolutely my favorite morning on the trail. It was quiet and the mountain glowed and the sun rose. I ate breakfast (two poptarts and two packets of oatmeal... my hiker hunger was certainly settling in) and filtered water by the creek before the hike up to Panhandle Gap, the highest point on the trail. I reached Panhandle Gap, took out my phone to take photos. I swiped up and my phone promptly died. Thankfully Robin had her camera and could take a few for me.

Messy braids, obnoxious hiking skirt, knee tape... and yet I feel prettier than ever. Panhandle Gap, 71 miles in.

I ate some jerky and a trail bar and started the descent to Indian Bar. Word on the trail was that some weather was moving in. My last day was supposed to be Sunday, but I decided that I would hike my final three miles tomorrow. I noticed the clouds creeping in and began to get nervous. When I’m anxious, I am also cranky. The hike to Indian Bar was miserable for me, for no reason other than the fact that I knew it was going to rain tomorrow, and that I needed to pee, but was in a giant meadow, with lots of people around. No privacy.

My mood improved once I reached Indian Bar and ate my lunch. And peed. Funny how food can be such a mood lifter.

My good mood quickly disappeared as I continued climbing up. I thought for sure that my hike to Nickel Creek was mostly downhill. I was very wrong. I stopped every few minutes, huffing and puffing and cursing myself for building myself up with false hope. This was probably my lowest moment on the trail. I took an hour long break before the real downhill began. I started running into people that I saw in my first few days. It was nice to see familiar faces, even though I didn’t know their names. I saw the father and daughter duo I ran into on my way to Mowich- the father was still wearing the KT tape I gave him. Hearing that it was actually helping him made me feel better.

Reaching Nickel Creek, I almost cried tears of joy. I immediately threw my pack on the ground and made myself a tuna tortilla with parmesan. I enjoyed my last day of sun by Nickel Creek while I filtered water and ate my second dinner of the night (Alpine Aire BBQ Chicken and beans... it was okay).

I was excited that tomorrow was my last day. I was looking forward to a beer and a shower. I laid my stinky clothes out on the branches surrounding my site.

Day 8

I woke up to rain.

Shit. I wasn’t supposed to start raining until 11am.

I left all my clothes outside to dry over night. I didn’t know what time it was. Early, I think. I wasn’t ready to get up, but I needed to get my gear before it got too wet. I don’t know how long it had been raining at this point, but enough for me to realize that my clothes were not drying out in my tent anytime soon. Since it was my last day, I ate breakfast in my tent, not caring at all about the crumbs from my pop-tart spilling onto my sleeping bag and tent. I mustered up the energy, put on my soaking wet rain jacket and began my final day. 12 miles.

I was cranky. I don’t enjoy hiking in the rain. But I was glad that I wasn’t missing anything too great. I had hiked parts of this section before. There were only a few views of the mountain, and a lot of the trail was near the road. 

I cried for the first time. It wasn’t because I was tired, or in pain, or homesick. It was because my hands were so cold and wet that I couldn’t open my clif bar and I was really freaking hungry. I threw it on the ground and let myself cry for a few minutes before collecting myself and picking it back up. I opened it with my teeth and was successful on my third try. I was still cranky, but at least I had food in my stomach and only 7.4 miles to go.

I passed more people that I had seen in the beginning of my journey. It was pretty cool to talk to them, but all I could think about was a burger and a beer. I was counting the rain as a shower. I couldn’t be nearly as stinky and dirty as I had been twelve hours before.  I reached Reflection Lakes. 4.5 miles to Longmire. The rain was coming down hard at this point. 

Finally, after passing Carter Falls, crossing the Nisqually, and reaching Cougar Rock, I realized how close I was. 1.7 miles. I speed hiked my way to Longmire, where I dropped my bag on the front stairs. I thought I would feel differently. Maybe it was because of the rain. I expected to be more... something. Stoked? Relieved? Mostly, I just felt tired. And hungry.

I went into the WIC and talked to the rangers a bit before going to my car and realizing a planning mistake on my part... I didn’t pack dry clothes. I found some jeans in my trunk, and a sweatshirt. I somehow shimmied into fleece lined skinny jeans in the front seat of my car, still completely damp, and put a zip up on over my drenched sports bra. The thought that someone would probably judge me for going out in public like this flickered across my mind for a fraction of a second. All I could care about was food.