Wonderland trail, Part II (Days 5–13)

Wonderland Trail, Part II (Days 5–13)

Posted to OHE on 6 September 2002 by Georgina Oka

Hey, all…

This is days 5–13. Mileage is the best I could figure from a map, and I had to guess the last two days because of our side trip to Paradise Inn. C’mon, Carmen, when’s the real write-up coming? =)

Golden Lakes – Mowich Lake
August 8-- Miles: 10.2

Today was to be an uphill battle, preceded by a gentle incline and endless switchbacks downhill sufficient enough to make my feet ache and, most importantly, our first view of “the mountain.” From camp, we had been able to see the ridge that we would gain, contour along for a short period, and then cross over via a wide saddle before descending into the next valley.

The uphill was very gentle, just enough to warm us of the chill that still hung in the air despite a clear sky which we nervously watched for clouds. We topped out within an hour and began walking on a relatively flat trail. Suddenly, Ralph called out to the group to turn, and as we about-faced to the mountain, we witnessed the pure white frosted peak bathed in the gold of the sun. We paused for several moments to admire the beauty that we had so long been denied.

Eventually we continued on and quickly reached the saddle. Warmth left us as we descended into a cool, shady forest. Seemingly endless switchbacks led painfully slowly down to the valley floor and Mowich River.

South Mowich River is notoriously temperamental, and so the log bridges common on the Wonderland rarely remain in place. Old bridges can often be zigzagged across in order to cross the wide riverbed, though. We stopped for lunch here, spreading ourselves out in the sun in order to continue the drying process. I cut lunch short, anticipating a long uphill to Mowich Lake where we would spend the night.

About an hour uphill, flies began to buzz maddeningly around me. Even worse, they began to circle me. Worse than that, they were huge. And worst of all, they bit — hard enough to draw blood. About twenty minutes before reaching Mowich, Laura and Ralph caught up with me. They also said they had been bothered by flies.

Soon, we began to meet tourists on day hikes from Mowich, and then, at long last, we reached the top of the hill and cars. Mowich is a car campground, with a road leading right up to it, and so, for the next several hours, we were surrounded by clean people, cars, and real food.

Once it began to get dark, the flies grew less, but by that point, I was snuggled into my sleeping bag.

Mowich Lake – Carbon River (via Spray Park)
August 9 -- Miles: 8.8

Today we left the Wonderland Trail, choosing the much more difficult, higher elevation, but much more beautiful route through Spray and Seattle Parks. We backtracked briefly down a small hill, then began to ascend again on a trail almost identical to the one up to Mowich.

About half a mile away, we did a short side trip to Spray Falls (above), a large and impressive waterfall. I waited for my group to catch up with me, but, bothered by mosquitoes and flies, moved slowly on without seeing them. I continued on alone, asking those who passed me if they had seen a large group of backpackers, trying to figure out if they were still behind me or if they had passed me while I was down at Spray Falls.

A few more switchbacks, and I emerged into a beautiful meadow with a wonderful view of Rainier in the distance. The meadow trail continued to head up, and around eleven, I stopped at a large rock and waited for my group to catch up. About twenty minutes passed before Ralph and Laura showed up.

Ralph found us a fantastic lunch spot with a view of Mother Mountain and a golf-course-like valley. Had we continued on the Wonderland, we would have been walking below Mother Mountain rather than above it.

After lunch, we headed on and soon hit several snowfields. It was fun for those of us who had never seen snow to be able to walk over so much. After the snow, we descended into the valley and began a steep, long downhill through dense woods. It seemed hours before we bottomed out, a feeling extended by painful feet.

Even reaching the sign proclaiming that we had reached Carbon River provided little relief, as the camp itself was still a quarter mile up a hill, with the water source at the bottom of that hill. While a quarter of a mile may not seem like much, my sore feet seemed to disagree.

The campsite was extremely small, but we managed to fit all five tents into it, though there was little walking room.