Other Wonderland Trail Transits

This video fast tracks Mt. Rainier's Wonderland Trail Counter Clock Wise starting and ending at Longmire and includes the entire Stevens Canyon washout section with the bypass, plus the regular and alternate routes over Spray Park via the Mother Mountain Loop. I call on various recent Wonderland hikes for the content. Music by Willis Wall and Forrest Kinney (piano). Authored in 5K Cinematic with map reference for the viewer to keep bearings.

Kautz Creek washes over the main road (2006 flood, NPS photo)

WONDERLAND TRAIL: Post 2006 Flood (2007 compilation)

In 2007 I hiked the Wonderland Trail over 4 days to capture the changes and repairs done by park personnel and volunteers after the devastating flood of November 2006. In this compilation I edited the 4 part series (still available) down to 25 minutes. More than 20 years later and the mountain continues to affect change on parts of the Wonderland, especially in the river courses. However, nothing has compared to the 2006 deluge to this date. This video is edited in the original SD format at 480.

PAIN AND SUFFERING: WONDERLAND TRAIL IN 3 DAYS (2009).

I schlepped a camera on my 2009 thru hike to record a different Vidcast, but when I wasn't doing that I turned it on myself to chronicle how my trip was going whilst under locomotion. Sometimes great, sometimes not; I was not in good shape that year but, hey, how hard can it be? I've done it many times before. I supplement the yapping with some trail footage taken on my 2008 hike to give the viewer a break from my talking head. I include a map and elevation profile reference so the viewer can stay oriented as to where I am when I'm speaking. The days on trail are broken up as separate videos below.

WONDERLAND TRAIL 2010: THE “SELFIE” 3 DAY HIKE

I was an early adopter of helmet cams, and was excited to get hold of one of the first Contour 1080P cameras, back when Contour was VHoldR. This whole series was shot at 60fps, and in those days the best quality at this higher frame rate was 720p, which is what this video is authored in. There was an interesting article in the Seattle Times on the Centennial of Mt. Rainier National Park, "100 things to know."

86. Unverified fact: The original selfie stick was a camera mounted to a trekking pole during a 2012 Wonderland Trail expedition.

Well, the selfie stick is credited in the 1980s to Hiroshi Ueda, who worked for Minolta. And assuming they were referencing me, then they were off by two years. But I recently rediscovered these clips and decided to put them together, offering a unique view of the trail. In my recent Wonderland video for #34, I turned the camera on me but once. Times have changed. On another note, my current 3 day transits of the Wonderland are right in line with 12 years ago and even 30 years ago, time wise, so lucky I am! I hope you enjoy! Music by williswall.

MY WONDERLAND (a film)

My Wonderland follows my then 13-year old daughter as she hikes Mt. Rainier's 93 mile Wonderland Trail in 5 days. The film seeks to capture the importance of exposing our kids to wilderness and the pure joy of time spent together outdoors. The film was a finalist in the 2009 Kendal Mountain Film Festival (UK) and was presented in some UK schools. Seattle bassist Jon Hamar provides tasty acoustic bass lines and the foundation for much of the music.

Wonderland Related Videos

WONDERLAND RELATED VIDEOS

The following videos are available as background information and may help with a hiker’s planning. The Overflight video is not as comprehensive as the 2006 DVD version available for viewing here.

WONDERLAND TRAIL EARLY SEASON CHALLENGES. On June 9-10, I biked from Longmire to the West Side Road, then hiked the North Puyallup Trail to the North Puyallup River camp, then hiked the Wonderland Trail to Golden Lakes for a permitted overnight. This short video shows some of the challenges one can face early season, when no trail maintenance has been done, and with snow coverage above 4,000 feet. But with fine weather and no people, the rewards were immense.

The North Puyallup Trail runs 3 miles from the end of the West Side Road at Klapatche Point to the intersection with the Wonderland Trail at the North Puyallup Camp. This trail was the road and driveable until 1987, when it was decommissioned and changed to trail status. This accounts for the stone walls that frequently line the trail and the wide swath you are walking on. This video is a sampling of the trail filmed on October 18, 2023.

THE EAGLE PEAK TRAIL is an excellent trainer, climbing steadily from its start at 2800’ to 5100’, then is steeper from 5100’ to the “end of maintained trail” sign at 5800’ for getting the heart rate up. At 7.5 miles round trip, with 3,000’ of elevation gain/loss, this trail is about perfect to train one’s uphill and downhill legs. Three circuits in a day of the Eagle Peak Trail will put one in good stead for long days on the Wonderland. The last part of this video is a time lapse of the entire trail.

WONDERLAND TRAIL: HISTORY AND HIGHLIGHTS As part of my enhancement series on Mt. Rainier's Wonderland Trail, I talk about the history of the trail and how it evolved from a ranger patrol vehicle to grow into it's recreational potential. Background shots show highlights taken around the trail using my 3 camera setup from 2012 with a quick reference map.

MT RAINIER ROADS AND ACCESS This video is part of Williswall's enhancement series on the Wonderland Trail. Here you'll find an overview of roads leading to the 5 major entrances to the park and some high lights along the way. I also cover roads within the boundaries including the West Side road and the Mowich Lake road. Use this 8 minute overview to help in your planning. Edit: Due to the closure of the Fairfax bridge, access to the Carbon River entrance and Mowich Lake is no longer available to public vehicles.

MT RAINIER OVERFLIGHT As part of Willis Wall's enhancement series to the Wonderland Trail, this video provides an aerial glimpse of some of the prominent features on the upper mountain that most hikers only see from trailside. Gaze down on Steamboat Prow, Little Tahoma, Liberty Ridge and the Willis Wall as well as checking out some of the glaciers and topography of the upper mountain.

BACKPACKING STRATEGIES: HIKING MORE THAN 20 MILES PER DAY In this 40 minute video I talk about techniques, equipment, training and attitude that I use to cover longer distances, essentially more than 20 miles per day. I reference Mt. Rainier's Wonderland Trail, specifically 3 and 4 day trips. With an aging body but many lessons learned over the years thru fastpacking and ultrarunning, I share my thoughts on tackling long distances without spending an inordinate amount of time in the gym. The section on equipment is now dated (an ongoing process) but the philosophy remains the same. I am still able to pull off a 3 day Wonderland Trek in my late 60’s.

The following is a compilation of PANHANDLE GAP crossing videos. Further information can be seen in the Wonderland Transits 32-40 pulldown, as I cross PG in all those transits.