With over 40 years of experience crossing various rivers in Mt. Rainier National Park, I find it astonishing how much a river can change its course, reroute, disappear and wander to and fro, not just in the flood plains but sometimes cutting right into forested areas. I’ve seen many old bridges mired in sand and rocks that once served as passage over a raging torrent, now devoid of any water because the river went somewhere else. In particular I’ve noted this for Kautz Creek, the Carbon River, and of course the South and North Mowich Rivers. In my latest transit of the Wonderland, I witnessed a major change in the Mowich River complex. The South Mowich main channel rerouted and joined the North Mowich further upstream from the typical Wonderland crossings, with just a few minor braids of the South Mowich trickling through the substantial flood plain left behind. A convoluted reroute takes the hiker to a new bridge spanning the combined rivers further downstream. The trail crews spent substantial time making a path through the rocky plain, moving rocks and lining the path with them. But who knows if next year the trail will even resemble that of 2023 across this area? In any event, the following video captures the Mowich crossings as of August, 2023.