Wonderland Trail #40-The Leisure Hike (9/10-13/25)
My goal this year was to even up the numbers; complete 40 transits of the Wonderland Trail at age 70. It started with a trip the week before going CCW, but I was so hammered by heat and smoke that I had to bail at White River. That was a PITA because highway 123 is closed all of September. My wife spent over 2 hours getting to White River the next morning, then we had to drive over Chinook Pass 54 miles east to highway 12, then back to Packwood and the Skate Creek Rd to Longmire. That alone was over 3 hours, then we both had to wait over 20 minutes just to get out of the Longmire parking lot because of repaving and single lane operations. Add the 2 and a half hours home, and you’ve just spent the entire day in the car. This past week of September 8th originally had a poor forecast, therefore my attempt during the iffy smoke conditions. Otherwise it was wait until October and hope for a good weather window as the rest of the month was tied up. However, the forecast improved enough for another attempt, so I procured an almost optimal walk up permit at Longmire for September 10-13, opting for a 4 day trip vice my usual 3 day jaunts. Ideally, the camps for a 4 day trip would be Golden Lakes/Mystic/Indian Bar for approximately 20-25 miles per day. But Indian Bar was not available so my one long day would be Mystic to Nickel Creek at 31 miles. This, however, was good because that made the last day a short one of 14 miles. Links to July and August hikes (#’s 38 and 39)
A rare look from inside Indian Henry’s ranger cabin
Day 1: Longmire to Golden Lakes CW (25 miles/8,300' elev) This section going CW all the way to Sunrise is now remote due to the lack of Mowich Lake and Carbon River access. It also sports consistent elevation gains and losses along the way compared to equivalent distances over the rest of the trail. I started out with a tinge of trepidation because of the lethargic and slow progress the previous week. What if my age was catching up, or my thyroid levels suddenly took a dive, etc? I've done the trail so many times in both directions that I can tell my progress based solely on the month, time of day and where I am on the trek. I have transited Silver Forest (a mile and a half before Golden Lakes) many times in the dark on previous hikes but I still had light to within a half mile of Golden Lakes; that was a good sign. I arrived at 8 PM and was tucked in and ready to sleep by 9, in an actual tent vice a bivy. That may sound a bit strange, but I haven't used a tent on the Wonderland since 2009. I pulled out a zpacks Plexamid (no longer made) that I had purchased before I retired more than 5 years ago, but never used. It took up a little more space in my Durston Wapta 30 but at under 15 ozs was actually lighter than some of my bivy options. [my pack weight for all 3 transits this year has come in at 16 lbs or less with food and 1 liter of H2O] I gotta admit, it was kinda nice to have the covered space to hang in. For those interested, this hike my sleep system was a Nunatak 40 degree Nano quilt and a NeoAir NXT short pad. Although not continuous, I got more than 8 hours of sleep...UNBELIEVABLE!
Droplets on fungi
Day 2: Golden Lakes to Mystic Camp (25 miles/7,200' elev). Cool temps prevailed through most of the day, and I enjoyed the "good on the feet" downhill trot to the Mowich Rivers. Having already been over this stretch twice already, I knew exactly where the trail meandered across the flood plain. On my previous hike I marveled at the rechanneling of the South Mowich River and how the South and North mixed right before the North Mowich bridge. You could see the silty muddiness of the South on the right and the more grayish usual look of the North on the left. Cool. From there it was the climb to the now deserted Mowich Lake. I did run into two couples and we chatted for quite a while. Meeting interesting people on the trail is a big part of the experience. They even gave me the Pox, which is a drink they picked up in Mexico pronounced "posch". Then it was off to Spray Park, as I had done the lower route over Ipsut Pass in August. The low hanging clouds and light mist eventually gave way once I was above 5,000', and I thoroughly enjoyed the solitude of this part of the transit. I didn’t necessarily enjoy the rocks. It's hard to make time on the entire trail over Spray Park due to all manner of things to step over, around or on. I knew what I was in for and I was glad my feet were comfortable and blister free, unlike the blister under callus I had endured on hike #38. The light stayed with me until Moraine Park, so not a lot of time in the dark. I was worried when I arrived at Mystic because both bear poles were crowded with bags and there must have been 8 bear canisters on the ground. I envisioned the nightmare of someone poaching a site and me having to figure it out at 9:30 PM, but site #6 was free. I fiddled with setting up the tent and was finally bedded by 10:30, anticipating an early get up the next day.
Spray Park view on the Wonderland Alternate Route
Below Mystic Pass
Day 3: Mystic Camp to Nickel Creek (31 miles/7,400' elev). Time for a long day, I set off for Sunrise and beyond. The day was clear and cool, perfect hiking weather. I ran into groups of people around Sunrise, looked like a guided thing going on. I made easy time going down to White River, where I stopped for a good break, washed my feet, applied some tape, changed socks etc. and disposed of trash. The White River was raging. I guess it was warmer than I thought, but that stretch of trail to Fryingpan Creek and then Summerland is just sublime. Wide boulevard, smooth trail, lack of rocks and roots, the smell of old growth forest; doesn't get much better. I transited Summerland after 5 PM, about the same time I would be there on a 3 day CCW hike. It was such a glorious evening, no wonder I passed a few people lounging in portable camp chairs and soaking up the late afternoon sun. I lingered on the climb towards Panhandle Gap following a goat family of 5. They passed me below Panhandle Gap and went over a saddle behind me. It was so quiet I could hear the shale stones clattering under hoof as the Dad led the way. By now I figured I would be able to transit Ohanapecosh Park in dwindling daylight, and indeed finally turned on my headlamp on the descent to Indian Bar. I knew what was ahead on the Cowlitz Divide, some steep up and downs until finally descending on good forest tread all the way to Nickel Creek. I was startled by a loud screech and then a bunch of hooting. I looked up screech owls but my cursory search did not come up with an answer. It definitely was not a cat. I continued on my way, perhaps at a little faster pace, until I had some distance on the screecher. I rolled into Nickel Creek late, like 11 PM, found a site and set up the tent, which I noticed was costing me about 15 additional minutes on set up and get up time. Dealing with tie outs and stakes is a bit more fiddly than throwing down a bivy. Since the following day was a short one, I set my alarm for 7:30 AM but woke up at 6:30 needing to go, and ready to go.
The spectacular view from Skyscraper Pass
Dwindling light transiting Ohanapecosh Park
Panhandle Gap (6780’)
Sunset in Summerland
Day 4: Nickel Creek to Longmire (14.5 miles/2,700' elev). This was truly a leisure day, and I anticipated getting into Longmire in time for lunch. Now, unbeknownst to me, my wife had planned a little surprise. The day before I had called her from Panhandle Gap and said I may hitch a ride from Box Canyon, which is only .8 miles from Nickel Creek, back to Longmire. I had already done this eastern section the week before. She encouraged me to "just do the whole thing, it's your 40th so make it a continuous hike." Well, she knows best and the weather was great. My legs felt pretty fresh, even after the 31 mile day, so I was making good time on the downhill from Reflection Lake. The dig was, my daughter was driving into the park to meet me on the trail with goodies, but she was stuck in traffic, an hour and a half, just getting through the entrance. My wife is texting her via inReach on my whereabouts. As it turned out, my daughter met me about 100 yards up the trail from Longmire, so actually worked out pretty well. I was very surprised to say the least. Then she presented me with some goodies including a cake with "40" on it and two t-shirts with a logo my wife had designed for me. I had plenty of time to drink a beer, take a shower in the van and my daughter and I had a nice lunch at the Inn. This was the best ending of any hike I've done, hands down.
Fall is in the air in Stevens Canyon
Night on the Cowlitz Divide, Day 3
Now I can relax from YoYo's and triples and just hike the Wonderland once per year, perhaps with a pie in the sky goal of doing #50 at age 80 with my daughter and grandson. I've used the Wonderland as a goal each year to help keep me fit as I age, and up to this point they've been mostly 3 day trips. I can still pull it off, as evidenced by two of them already this year, but I gotta wonder; why not kick back from here on out and do a 4 day trip? Or is it I just can't help myself? Time will tell. Happy Hiking!
