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.