Willis Wall 2023 Year in Review

Another year has passed, and although I didn't get through my wish list for the year, it was filled with quality trips: Portugal, Rome, Cycling in Riccione, my 35th Wonderland, RIMROBOD, the Northern Loop Trail and a few peaks, to name a few. Once again I was lucky to be in good health with heightened fitness from consistent cycling training. Happy Holidays everyone! Caveat: no drones were used in this footage.

Emerald Ridge Loop (10/30/23)

Finishing off my jaunts into the west side of Mt. Rainier, I took advantage of clear weather following the season’s first snow to loop through Emerald Ridge. Starting at the Kautz Creek trail head, I did the short bike (6 miles) down the road to the West Side Road and secured the bike at the parking area. The remainder of the hike was on foot, hiking up the West Side Road to Round Pass and hopping on the Round Pass Trail to the South Puyallup Trail, intersecting the Wonderland. After checking out the sedate South Puyallup River, the Wonderland was the avenue to access Emerald Ridge. I was on snow for much of the day but it was never deep, and trail runners were more than adequate for the conditions.

Frozen tarn, Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground, Mt. Rainier (Oct 30, 2023)

It always amazes me the sometimes fast transitions of seasons on the mountain…just a few weeks before I had experienced the pinnacle of fall colors and bivied at 6,000’ in moderate temperatures. On this day I was wearing 3 layers on top for half the day and had numb fingers in the morning hours. Any northern aspects that didn’t receive direct sun were cold and darkish, with some frozen water features and crunchy snow. Southern exposures of course provided some warmth and melt of the previous snow accumulations, and the warm sun on my face during those times was a welcome condition.

Mt. Adams and the southern view from the Kautz Creek Trail, Mt. Rainier

Now that November is here, the closure of most of the roads, including the lower 3 miles of the West Side Road, will limit access in line with the winter season. The last holdouts, highway 410 and highway 123, will follow shortly, leaving only the Nisqually and Carbon River entrances available for drive in. So goes the ebb and flow of recreating in the park. CAVEAT: no drone footage was used, just a 360 camera on the end of an extendable pole.

Mt. Rainier: The Colonnade

Pristine weather was with us on Wednesday and Thursday (October 18-19, 2023) so I planned on another bike/hike foray into the park, visiting one of my favorite places: The Colonnade. At this point all the campgrounds were closed in the park so I secured a cross country permit at Longmire and left my van there, biking to the end of the West Side Road at Klapatche Point.

Golden hour on the Colonnade

Catching the glow

After securing the bike, it was back to earthly bipedal action and hiking the North Puyallup Trail (which used to be the road until 1987) to the intersection with the Wonderland, then departing in the vicinity of Sunset Park/Silver Forest and making my way to the Colonnade. There is a trail which I lost a few times in the lower sections, but once on the ridge proper it is patently obvious. In 2016 I did this trip and bivied at the old lookout site at 6,700’. This time I spotted a knoll with an unobstructed view of the mountain and its flanks and determined that would be an excellent spot for sunset. Despite blustery winds most of the afternoon and night, the temperatures were moderate and I enjoyed a mesmerizing star show above while a GoPro captured sunset and star trails.

Alpenglow on Rainier, October 18, 2023

I snoozed the next morning until the sun hit my bivy, as this was a relaxed trip and more in line for soaking in the environment than pumping out an endurance event. Once again my shadow was before me as I reversed the jaunt to my bike and pedaled back to Longmire, easier with less elevation gain than the day before. Round trip stats: 53 miles/7,100’ elev. This was an immersive trip, in complete solitude. It’s hard to explain what this infusion of sights and smells and toil does for one’s soul; maybe the video and pics will help impart some of this to you, dear reader, which is the purpose of this site.

RIMROBOD Oct 2023

I took inspiration from RAMROD (Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day), touted as a hard ride with 150 miles and 10,000 feet of climb, to put together RIMROBOD (Ride the Interior of Mt. Rainier Out and Back in One Day), with a shorter distance of 118 miles (from Cougar Rock campground) but total climb of 13,435 feet, all within the Park boundaries. I have replaced the original video of my 2017 ride, both because of the much better video quality and also more accurate stats (I had the original at 15,600' of climb, which was inaccurate). This recent ride was done on October 7th, 2023 amidst a fall color autumnfest. This ride took me a total of 13.5 hours, with slightly over 11 hours of saddle time.

The autumn roadside colors were ablaze during this ride.

Sunrise and Autumn colors across from the Stevens Canyon Road, Mt. Rainier

Color along the Stevens Canyon Road

Color on the Sunrise Park Road, White River entrance

Rainier West Mini Loop

Glorious fall weather was with us, so I was off to the park and secured a site in Cougar Rock Campground for 5 nights right up to closing day. Out of 6 days I was active for 4, with the other two involving wandering down to Longmire for coffee and WiFi. The first day (Tuesday, Oct 3) I did a nice afternoon ride up to Paradise and Reflection Lake as a warmup. The second day (Oct 4), I rode to the West Side road and parked at the trail to South Puyallup Camp. As I was planning on riding RIMROBOD on the coming Saturday, I had my gravel bike with me (Salsa Cutthroat) vice my usual vintage mountain bike. My only concern was the road tires I had on it but the West Side Road is gentle enough to not be a problem. I then proceeded on foot past South Puyallup camp to St. Andrews Park/Lake, Klapatche Park, then the St. Andrews Trail to the West side road which I trotted to regain my bike, returning to Cougar Rock. On this trip I concentrated on taking in as much nuance as I could, taking macro shots of the plethora of fungi, reveling in the colorful understory, spending over an hour at St. Andrews Lake, completely alone (only saw 4 people this entire trip), availing myself of the 4 cameras I packed for various video shots....I tried not to be overwhelmed by the olfactory overload of fall on the hill, but I failed; that's a good thing! I could barely get myself moving again from such an idyllic spot (St. Andrews Lake), but made my way to Klapatche Park, where there was one other person who kept to himself. Aurora Lake was refilled by the recent rains, and I got an alternate (maybe better?) shot of the mountain reflected in a tarn as I traveled the St Andrews trail, trotting the nice grade to the West Side Road, where my ambulation continued until I regained my bike. After the short climb to Round Pass, the fall overload continued (even on the main road back to Cougar Rock). I called this a "Rainier West Mini Loop." Of course, one could shorten this trip by parking at the end of the West Side Road, but where’s the fun in that? Todays stats: 42 miles (13 hiking)/5800' elev. I’ve done some endurance type trips this season and it was a pleasure to shift gears and just relax.

Tarn reflection near Klapatche Park

Salsa tackles the West Side Road

Mountain from the West Side Road, Mt. Rainier

Lots of fungus in October on the trail

Fall color in St. Andrews Park, Mt. Rainier

The Puyallup formations from St. Andrews Park

Broadleaf show’s a startin’

Wonderland Trail #35 - 8/21-23/2023

I wanted to do something different for my 35th transit of the Wonderland. Well, I got my wish. After a year of productive cycle training and some warmup hikes, I was ready to attempt a 48 hour transit. It was a stretch for sure, but one never knows until trying. After delaying a week due to hot temperatures, I departed for Mt. Rainier on a Sunday afternoon and secured a walk up permit at Longmire. It had one camp on it; Cataract Valley. I was aiming for one rest period during this endurance attempt.

Generally the west side of the mountain is the toughest, packing a lot of elevation gain and loss into those miles vice the east side. With my Longmire start, I wanted to get the hard part done with fresh legs and set off on a clockwise trip. Usually I do these trips with a pristine weather forecast in hand, but with other matters pressing I went with “good enough”. No rain was forecast on Monday (August 21) for my start. However, smoke was present but was supposed to diminish by Tuesday afternoon. Temperatures were moderate. I set off from Longmire at 4:20 AM, hoping to return by 4:20 AM on Wednesday for that 48 hour window.

St. Andews Lake, Wonderland Trail

I felt in the pocket all day, breezing up the climbs and trotting the downhills. There’s a lot of that on this trail. I could gauge my progress based on many past hikes, and was very pleased with the pace. I’m usually transiting Silver Forest (right before Golden Lakes) in the dark, but on this day I passed through at 4 PM, hours ahead of any other hike. Sure the skies were ghostly with the smoke, and views of the mountain were suggested, hiding in the veil. But cool temperatures and otherwise pleasant conditions were enjoyable and conducive to fast ambulation. It looked like I was going to be able to transit the Mowich Rivers before dark, another first. The ranger who issued my permit reported that the South Mowich River main channel merged with the North Mowich further upstream, in essence cutting out half the crossing problems. When I arrived with plenty of light left, there were a few slighter branches of the river in the south channel, but otherwise the huge flood plain was begging for water. I passed old bridges mired in sand and rock on the way until gaining the wooded area that is home to the South Mowich River Camp. From there the path proceeded back into the flood plain for quite some distance until finally crossing the merged rivers. This whole area seemed kind of convoluted and I’m sure next season will have the trail crews out there making new rock lined paths, but for this year it worked well. I have transited these rivers in the dark, and being able to see more than 50 feet was a pleasant change.

Starry night in Spray Park

I started the climb to Mowich Lake with light still with me and arrived there at 9:30 PM. This would be a stopping point for a normal 3 day hike, but I launched off into the night, taking the Spray Park Trail (last year I did the Ipsut Pass route), what I call the High Route. There was no moon but I occasionally turned off my headlamp and enjoyed clear starry skies, thinking that the forecast was spot on and that the next day would be nice….with the next day only a few hours away. This alternate route over Spray Park is not easy going or conducive to fast trotting, what with big steps along the way and a somewhat difficult path through Seattle Park above treeline, especially in the dark. However, physically I was still hanging in there with plenty of gas in the tank and steely feeling legs. I arrived at Cataract Valley Camp at 1:30 AM and occupied site #1. I hung the food bag and laid out my sleep system, which I had “upgraded” last minute to an OR Helium bivy and a Nunatak 40 degree quilt, along with a NeoAir XLite NXT short pad. I just rolled the whole shebang into a bundle so I could lay it out for immediate deployment without dealing with individual stuff sacks. I’m a side sleeper so the short pad, at 66 inches, was perfect for a bent knee position. Unfortunately, I had a hard time falling asleep, and I only got perhaps 2 hours of rest out of my 4 hours reclining. I was up and exiting the camp by 6:30 AM.

Tokaloo Rock and Spire, Wonderland Trail

Day 1 had me 47 miles into the hike with 12,500 feet of elevation gain. Day 2 would be longer with essentially the same elevation gain, mitigated somewhat by the last 30 miles abating a bit. As the skies got lighter I could see that there was no clearing; the cloud deck was low and mist was in the air. At least the smoke had cleared out. I was anticipating 4 major climbs to finish off the trip, and I arrived at the top of the first one (Mystic Pass at 6000’) feeling OK. I didn’t have the prior day’s spring and spunk but my legs were still in the fight and I was able to trot the downhills without quivering thighs. I breezed through Mystic Lake, around the Winthrop Glacier and saw an elusive Marten on my climb to Skyscraper Pass, the second climb of the day. In the forefront of my mind were the time milestones, and I was thinking I was maybe 2 hours behind where I should have been. I took a long break at White River Campground, the other spot that I use for a typical 3 day, and launched into the unknown. On the trail to Summerland I laid down and took a 30 minute nap, feeling much better for the short rest as I aimed for the highest point on the trail, Panhandle Gap at 6800 feet. But what’s that I’m seeing in my headlight as I’m hiking?….looks like big dust particles…or light rain. I am always assessing conditions, not just external but how my body is holding up. As the rain increased in intensity there was more assessing. As the winds picked up above Summerland and sideways mist was hitting my face there was more assessing. A decision had to be made, do I commit to Panhandle Gap and the exposed Ohanapecosh Park transit? Now, I was not going “stupid light”, I had minimal but effective kit (total carried weight including food and water was about 12 pounds), and I was confident in my choices. Bottom line though, I deemed it prudent not to continue at that point, and knew my best place to shelter was below Panhandle Gap by the green tarn. Abandoning my 48 hour quest, I laid out the bivy on a durable, sandy area near the tarn. By the time I was tucked inside the rain and wind had intensified. Problem was, I had to keep the bivy closed because of the wind driven rain, but the condensation buildup inside became its own problem. I had all my clothes on and was able to maintain minimal heat throughout the night, but I was certainly not comfortable. Shifting side to side, occasionally opening up the bivy for ventilation, adjusting the quilt as best I could for drafts, I spent the night snoozing and awaiting morning. Stats for this second day: 29 miles/8300’ elevation gain

Emmons Glacier, descending to White River

At some point the rain stopped and I was able to expose my face to breathe outside the bivy. I was up and on the trail at 5:30 AM, wearing all my clothing. First order of business was to raise my body temperature. A shoutout to Timmermade; I didn’t have a puffy but did have the Alpha Direct hoody, and paired with a prototype silpoly Megazip shell, I was able to hike quickly but dump heat and moisture by managing the huge zips in the shell. By the time I hit the Gap I was toasty enough to remove my hat, eventually stowing the hoody and shell in exchange for an Enlightened Equipment wind shirt. This whole transit through Ohanapecosh Park was devoid of any views as the skies were still completely socked in. I still hadn’t seen the mountain proper on this trip. Visibility under the clouds was good, however, and I was able to peer down on Indian Bar from the ridge, my next destination. I was happy to see that the weather was apparently not going to get worse.

The final hours of my 3 day trek finally saw clear skies: Reflection Lake, Mt. Rainier

By the time I descended to Nickel Creek the skies were starting to clear, making me wish I had started the trip a few days later. But hey, deal and cope, and enjoy being outside. Fatigue was slowly creeping into the legs, but I was not anywhere near pegging the needle on the sufferfest dial. Reflection Lakes was the end of my last climb, and the skies were mostly clear with my first clear view of the mountain. From there it was a cruise back to Longmire, arriving just before 6 PM; time to take a hot shower and enjoy some bison meatloaf at the Inn. At this point I’ve probably done around 25 three day Wonderlands, and I’ve never arrived in daylight on the last day. Then again, my last day has never been this short: 27 miles/4600’ elevation gain. That would make this hike my fastest three day hike I’ve ever done, more than 30 years after my first. I’ll take it, I aint gettin’ any younger…and there’s always next time.

Video: this time I authored in 4K, and the run time is lengthy: 51 minutes. But I wanted to convey the essence of my celebratory 35th hike of the Wonderland and hope that viewers enjoy my journey, sprinkled with a few historical snippets. For best viewing make sure you have 4K selected. Cheers and happy hiking!

Peak Bagging Rainier: 8/9-12/2023

I took advantage of continuing decent weather to bag some more peaks on the Rainier 100 list, parking my van in the RV lot at Crystal Mountain and staging out of there. On Wednesday morning (8/9/23) I drove to the turnoff on Crystal Mountain Blvd to access the Norse Peak trail. This is a pleasant trail with views that open up as one climbs into the Norse Peak fire zone (2017). Highlights: talking to 3 immature elk and being photo bombed by a hummingbird. As I approached the summit there was a stiff wind but pleasant nonetheless. I wandered the flat summit area for a bit, then ran back down to the van. I checked in at the RV lot at 6 PM and set up shop...hot shower, snacks, meal etc. There were only 3 RVs in the lot so it was a quiet night. Stats: 10.5 miles/3100'

Top of Chair 6 and Forest Queen lodge from Silver King Peak (6998’)

Day 2 (8/10/23): Silver King (6998') The surrounding peaks were socked in when I awoke so I lounged for a bit that morning hoping for some clearing as the day progressed. Twice I had a mind to tag Silver King when I was skiing with a buddy, but each time there was a low cloud deck with no views from the Peak. It's a bit of a slog to get over there schlepping skis so didn't happen. On this day I took the Silver Creek trail to Elizabeth Lake, then proceeded to scramble up to the South Ridge to gain the summit. I looked down Brain Damage ski run, thinking you gotta have brain damage to board or ski that, or just mad skills. I'm lacking in at least one department there. After watching 2 C-17s go by on a low level, I transited the ridge towards Campbell Basin and descended to the lodge, hiking the road and some trails back to the van. Stats: 9.5 miles/3300'

Crystal Lake and Rainier from the summit of Three Way Peak (6796’)

Day 3 (8/11/23): Three Way Peak (6796') To access Three Way from Crystal, I once again took the Silver Creek Trail to a connector to the PCT, then proceeded south on the PCT to Three Way. Since the PCT transits the base of Three Way, anytime I looked up to see where the col was it all just looked the same...steep meadow to rock ridges. After contemplating a bit, I just started up below the summit, angling right as I went via appropriate crappy gullies until I intersected the "right" way. A short jaunt to the summit block with an airy step or two had me communing with the resident insects, which always seem to populate these summits. When I started the descent, I was thinking I would take the "usual" way down to the col, but although I transited the flattish sandy area described, the way off wasn't real clear...steep rock faces. So once again I committed to a crappy gully that eventually deposited me on the meadow above the PCT. Once again I trotted the entire way back (on excellent trail) to my van, and once again I took a hot shower, poured a glass of wine, made some munchies, watched a movie, made dinner, read a little and bedded down. Love that thing. Stats: 10 miles/2900'

Mt Rainier from the summit of Chinook Peak (6904’)

Day 4 (8/12/23): Chinook Peak (6904')/Crystal Peak (6595’) As this was a Saturday, I got up early and packed up the van to get to the Crystal Peak trailhead before the madhouse was in full swing. No problem getting a spot but I was surprised at the amount of traffic on 410 at 7:30 AM. I had breakfast and coffee and got on the trail around 8 AM and enjoyed solitude on the Crystal Peak trail, hopping off at the first switchback for Chinook. The sloping meadow area was not steep, in fact very pleasant, and I gained the ridge to Chinook to the right of peak 6706'. Chinook's description was "easy scramble", so I knew I was off on a class 3 section. Par for course for me it seems. I descended and contoured around the base some more until an obvious way presented itself. Despite the intimidating rocky pillars, the way up was indeed easy and I spent some time here (what, no bugs?) lounging and trying to ID peaks in the area. I could see the top of Chair 6 glinting in the sun, with Three Way and Silver King in view. The way back to the trail was gentle with huge views to the mountain with every step. The last time I was on Crystal Peak it was snowing so I thought I'd go take another look to see the views, the best of which is on the trail below the peak...an expansive 180 vista with the mountain in the middle; superb! As expected, there were a few people on the summit and I ran into increasing numbers of hikers as I ran back down to the completely packed parking area. Somehow I managed to back onto 410 and made my escape. Stats: 11 miles/4400'

Three Way Peak (6796’) from the summit of Chinook Peak (6904’)

Descending on the Crystal Peak trail

Northern Loop Trail

A busy July precluded any hiking that month, so I hit the Northern Loop Trail (Mt. Rainier National Park) on August 3rd in preparation of hiking the full Wonderland shortly thereafter. The Northern Loop Trail (NLT) approximates the toughest day I may see on a 3 day Wonderland, coming in at 38 miles with 9,800’ of elevation gain. Over 20 years ago I would do this trail in under 12 hours as training for ultras. This iteration took considerably longer; 18 hours total. Generally speaking, the hike went well with the last 10 miles offering a test of legs and mettle. There is a video chronicle at the end of this post.

Mt. Fremont from Grand Park

I got an early start at 5:30 AM at Sunrise, enjoying spreading alpenglow from the meadows beneath the Burroughs Mountains. A highlight of the trip is the jaunt through Berkeley Park, with the fairy tale like Lodi Creek bubbling along the way, feeding flowers late into the season. A relatively short wooded section deposits the hiker on the far end of Grand Park, the unique anomalous flat mesa. As I stepped along the trail in bright morning sunshine, thousands of tiny grasshoppers took to short flights to avoid my feet, parting the way like a bow wave. The snapping sounds they made as they hopped away reminded me of popcorn. This experience is just one of the surprising delights that happen on the trail, being in the right place at the right time by happenstance. As a parting shot the mountain offers up a grand view before dropping over 2,000’ to the West Fork of the White River.

A grand view leaving Grand Park, Mt. Rainier National Park

The crossing of the West Fork is a bit convoluted, and I actually lost the trail by following an older version for a bit before realizing my mistake and backtracking. No further navigation problems were encountered after this brief distraction and I enjoyed the climb to Windy Gap, legs and motor still cooperating as I approached the half way point mileage-wise. This second drop from nearly 6,000’ to 2900’ taxed the downhill legs, always the weak area without a good amount of prior trail miles under my belt. I was glad to start climbing again and intersect the Wonderland, which comprises the rest of this loop. Glorious conditions, changing views and cool breezes helped mitigate the growing fatigue creeping up on my untrained old bod.

Sluiskin Mountains approaching Windy Gap

As I crested Mystic Pass (6,000’) and descended to Mystic Lake, I knew the last 10 miles were gonna be a challenge. I waded in the cool waters of Mystic Lake, enjoying some snacks while basking in the warm sun, delaying my departure knowing what was ahead; hours of degrading legs, sputtering motor and mental challenge, conditions I am so accustomed to I almost welcome this suffering as an old friend. By this stage in life I can still enjoy my surroundings despite the toil, and I appreciated a rising moon and passing fox as I shuffled toward Sunrise. Doing hard stuff accentuates the good stuff, my ineloquent quote for the day.

Mystic Lake

Evening alpenglow from the Northern Loop Trail (Winthrop Glacier)

Mt. Wow (6040')

Finally...this was a tough one for me. In 2019 I attempted it early November from the West Side Road, lost my Whippet in some dense brush schwacking to reach the upper meadows, and found fresh snow on the steep meadows. I turned back there as the days were short and finding that Lake Allen "trail" in the dark was not appealing. I made another half hearted attempt with a buddy the next year but he had concerns so we turned back. And a few weeks ago I scouted the route from the Boundary Trail (Nisqually entrance) and turned around below the ridge because of snow. I opted for the WSR/Lake Allen approach again as I was at least familiar with the difficulties involved.

The upper meadows below the Mt. Wow ridge

This is an unrelenting climb...6.7 miles RT with 5000' of elevation gain/loss, at least according to my track on Strava. This time I was able to proceed up the upper meadows (mtn goat sighting) and easily gain the ridge to Wow. As I crested and Rainier came into view, the words that escaped my mouth were "Holy Crap!" The mountain is massive from this vantage point and you can gaze down on the course of Tahoma Creek from its origins. After a break on the summit (6040') I reluctantly left this glorious perch and steeled myself for the descent. The Lake Allen trail is in poor shape and is easily lost/reacquired in the descent. I found myself on my backside a few times sliding down the hill and I won't repeat the epithets that spewed forth from my pie hole. When I finally regained my van on the road I felt completely worked, but very glad not to have to go up there again. This was #67 on my Rainier 100 list. The next day I recovered by biking the West Side Road and Paradise from Cougar Rock, a delightful and zen like day for 60 miles and 6600' of no sidehilling on my MTB pedals.

Mt. Adams to the south

Mt. Wow ridge

Florence Peak (5508')

Well worn path at the beginning of the hike on the Rainforest Loop

The shorter drive to the Carbon River entrance at Mt. Rainier National Park enticed me to tag Florence Peak (5501’) as it is one of the easier peaks to access and has a way trail all the way along Alki Crest, making travel pleasant. The Boundary Trail starts right at the Carbon River entrance, and the park is maintaining at least the first section to the creek crossing and falls. Irish Creek was running fast and I dropped a bit below to cross, but it was still a bit dicey on the slippery scale. On the way up the trail I saw a well used log that would be a much better alternative on the way back.

The great thing about Florence is that the Boundary Trail takes you right to the saddle, and a social trail continues up Alki Crest right to the false summit of Florence; no ‘schwacking at all beyond stepping around or over a fallen tree. An easy scramble to the summit bloc proper allows 360 degree views. Although somewhat cloudy, the main mass of Rainier was visible as one peered at it across the ridge housing Tolmie Peak fire lookout and, beyond that, Observation and Echo Rocks. A big plus was that it was still early enough in the season (May 26) that there were no bugs to deal with. I lingered for a while, got my drink and snack on, took some pics and 360 video, then retraced the path. There was an aborted attempt to access Sweet Peak but I found myself in gawdawful slide alder and devils club, sometimes over blowdown, snow and mossy rocks. I figured I had made some poor navigation decisions and determined that best course of action was to make my way back to the trail and leave Sweet Peak for another day.

Irish Creek waterfall on the Carbon River Boundary Trail

Florence was my first peak of 2023 and is number 66 on my 100 list. With luck, I may be able to top out on 10 more peaks this season amidst a very busy summer and fall. Happy Hiking and be safe out there!

Florence Peak summit area, Mt. Rainier National Park