Two friends and one of the friends’ 14 year old daughter and I hiked the Wonderland Trail this summer, starting late July into August.
We flew into Seatac, rented a car, picked up supplies on the way, and stayed our first night at the National Park Inn in Longmire. We had tried repeatedly to get permits, including all 3 of us attempting the lottery and losing, so we were hoping for walkups. I gambled that staying 3 minutes’ walk from the ranger station where permits were issued would get us there first in line next morning. That first evening, after checking in to the hotel, we sat on the porch of the wilderness center and used their permit notebook to figure out possible itineraries. The next morning, two of us got up at 5:15am, and my friend hustled over and was indeed first in line. I assembled coffee and breakfast items, and brought them over about 5:25; there were already two other parties in line after us! By 7:30 when the center opened, there were about 10 parties in line, all hoping for walkup permits. We got very lucky; our ranger typed fast and we got our first choice of the open permits. It was not my ideal itinerary; with my advance research there were other campsites I’d have liked to get. But no matter; we were going to hike!
We packed up and checked out of the hotel at a leisurely pace, because our hike would not begin until the following day. That gave us a day to get a campsite for the night at Cougar Rock CG (lovely – 3 species of owls singing all night!), and then drive to White River ranger station to drop off our resupply. We took our time on the way back, stopping at Paradise to enjoy the tourist scene, and do some short hikes to shake out our airplane legs.
Day 1: Longmire to Devil’s Dream – Devil’s Dream 6.88 miles, 2356 gain, 551 loss
Easy hike day. Enjoyed ripe blueberries en route. Contrary to most of the stories, we found Devil’s Dream to be a really lovely campsite; it would be our number 2 fav for the whole trip! No bugs whatsoever, and sunny, large, open sites.
Day 2: To N Puyallup –Â 15.41 miles, 4078 gain, 5410 loss
On the advice of one of the hikers we met while getting permits, we got up really early, and hiked to Indian Henry’s cabin to make breakfast. Wow! Lovely cabin, amazing views. See photo above, hiking into the cabin. Great advice!
This was to be one of the hardest days of the trip, since our packs still had 4.5 days of food, and we weren’t trail hardened yet. One friend had some serious foot trouble, with a sore bunion, hot spots galore. I was able to offer my Aquaphor, as well as some lambswool to cushion sore spots. She used those throughout the trip, finding them light years ahead of moleskin or any kind of bandage or tape.
After that we walked a steady pace, with various of us falling behind or getting ahead now and then, but grouping up for snacks and lunch; that would be typical for us the rest of the hike, everyone comfortable with being alone or with the group. The teenager stayed with mom most of the hike however, since she had never done such a long trip before (although experienced at backpacking short trips). She rocked this hike! A few down moments, but overall she was a great hiking companion.
Spotted: black bear (by two), slugs, marmots, mountain and glacier views, alpine meadows, waterfalls.
N. Puyallup was the worst campsite of the trip, dark, damp, no views, and some dude who we’d met at the permit center (not our advice-giver) decided to take the largest site, knowing full well 4 people were behind him; he left us a tiny site, which we managed to squeeze our 3 tents into. Found out later from his YouTube channel he was miffed at us for getting a campsite he wanted. Jeez people. Backpacking revenge? As my friend put it, “somewhere on the internet there’s beautiful cinematic footage of Cxxxx enjoying his enormous campsite while four women cram three tents into the one next door.” Oh well, we are great at adapting to circumstances!
Day 3: To Mowich Lake- 16.38 miles, 4645 gain, 2929 loss
This was another hard hiking day, but we were all feeling a bit better by now and our bags a wee bit lighter. Personally I have a hard time eating when backpacking, but I made a point of eating every single day’s allotment, both to save on weight and also to help me fuel myself better than I usually do. I could feel the difference the extra food made in my strength and energy. I also was able to focus not only on the hike, but on the amazing plant life of the pacific NW, like the ghost pipe and the pine drops, plants without chlorophyll, and the amazing fungi. Beautiful Golden Lakes area and plentiful streams to dip in along the way. And a final bath at Mowich Lake before bed; we all slept so well that night, listening again to owls all night long and knowing that the next day would be easier. Not easy, just easier!
Day 4: To Dick Creek -10.55 miles, 2530 gain, 3632 loss
After a damp, condensation-filled morning packing up our gear, made wet by the cool air by the lake, we had a glorious walk through Spray Park, despite sprits of rain and some chilly winds. The flowers were just incredible, and the glacier and views stunning. A gorgeous buck deer up there munching the grasses, loads of birds. Then some moonlike rock terrain and a bit of snow to negotiate, nothing hard. A second suspension bridge to cross, and then a climb up toward the Carbon glacier, where our campsite sat alongside the scoured glacial valley. A bit of a lumpy bumpy site, but we managed again to make it work for our three tents and got good rest. Dick Creek camp, below.
Day 5: To Granite Creek, 8.4, 3284 gain, 1634 loss
We slept late to enjoy a shorter hiking day. This was a more gradual climb, through tucked away little garden valleys with loads of pikas. Mystic Lake was gorgeous, but like so many of the campsites, the actual camping area is quite far from the lake. I get that they want to protect the lake shore, but the dank, damp, dark forest campsites on the Wonderland are not lovely. You really don’t want to do anything but sleep in them, for the most part. No reason to linger. I’ve been spoiled by the Sierra, where just about any campsite is in a glorious location. We ate lunch along the way in an area that had been ravaged by a lahar. We were all sitting there when suddenly I remembered the place from the photos we’d seen at Paradise. The massacred trees and gouged out streambed really emphasized the power of nature. And I thought back to the advice on the sign at Paradise: if you hear a loud rumbling, run fast uphill. Hah! There was literally nowhere to run. We stopped now and then to watch as rocks tumbled down the slopes off the glacier.
Day 6: To White River CG, 8.64 miles, 1230 gain, 2192 loss
We slept well at Granite Creek, but awoke freezing! It got incredibly cold overnight after a very rainy, wet and dark evening. All of our moods were pretty low, and we were glad there wasn’t an easy out at that point because we were all trying to find the courage to continue. Tired, cold, and also the distinct funky smell of smoke in the air, which got stronger as we ascended on trail. Our mood brightened as we warmed up climbing, and the views at Skyscraper Pass were once again the amazing alpine space the Wonderland is so good at, after hours of forest hiking. We spotted a sow and three cubs which looked so much like grizzlies! My friend’s iPhone 17 pro gave us a close up that showed us that while the sow was blond, she was very much a large black bear, not a grizzly (which we knew weren’t present here but nice to confirm!). They appeared to be coming toward us on trail, so we started making more of a racket. She then took her cubs off a different, unhurried direction, very used to people. Lovely walk all the way to Sunrise from the pass, despite increasing smoke.
At Sunrise we learned that the fire was quite close, and also that Washington state had been burning up! My friend’s partner was also in the state, working as a wildland firefighter on the Spokane fire. We had been blissfully ignorant until that point. We got packaged food at the “restaurant” at Sunrise (pathetic place, with no hot food or even coffee, just convenience store options). The sun was full out, so we spread out our gear to dry and took a couple hours of leisure, naps, charging devices, and trying to get more info on the fires.
Once we got to White River, we assessed the situation. If we left trail there, we’d have to find a hitch back to Longmire, and the rangers had told us it would be a tough place to hitch. We didn’t want to hike uphill into heavy smoke though, only to have no views and potential health concerns. We decided to sleep on it at White River and make a decision in the morning.
Day 7: To Summerland, 7.31 miles, 1939 gain, 584 loss
We woke up to clear blue skies and sunshine, with only a mere hint of smoke. Once again, with a short day ahead, we slept later, and took a leisurely breakfast. The climb again seemed gradual, perhaps because our 2nd and 3rd days had been so challenging. Even with our resupply, our packs seemed lighter. We went slowly, relaxing in the sun and stopped at several streams to enjoy the water, watch the frogs and butterflies. Again the flowers were tremendous. After the short easy climb, we popped out at Summerland, Mount Tahoma fully on display, the wide open blue skies, and only a smoky haze in the far view. Hard to believe how bad the fires were all over the state at that moment. We got to camp first and had our pick of sites. We did laundry, washed up, ate, lounged in the sun, and watched the marmots. So many marmots! And mountain goats on the far hillside. And aggressive camp chipmunks, which kept us busy. Had a really lovely reset and camp in this place and felt so lucky to be there.
Day 8: Nickel Creek, 14.42 miles, 2310 gain, 5187 loss
Awoke to a phenomenal sunrise and alpenglow. The meadows were just brilliant. Took breakfast on the trail again near a moonscape alpine tarn (would have been better in camp though). Then a pretty easy climb over Panhandle Gap and through meadow after meadow, with views of cascading water, and distant hills in smoke. The haze added to the beauty, but also brought the reality of what was going on elsewhere. Two of our group again spotted a bear, very close by on trail, number 5 for the trip. Lunch at Indian Bar was a delight, soaking in the cold stream and again just taking our time, watching the tadpoles and baby salamanders and chatting with rangers doing trail work. The day turned out very hot, and we pitied the hikers coming up the hill, with no water between Indian Bar and Nickel Creek whatsoever, all dry.
Nickel Creek was another downer of a campsite, especially after Summerland. Dark and shrubby, even having to bushwhack into the site. And the water source – the creek – was a 10 minute walk downhill. Nonetheless we took advantage of the creek to get a wash and ease our aches. But we ended up with some “trail magic” here, when another backpacker told us she had the group site but she was alone, so she traded the group site to give us more space. How kind! We slept well, again listening to owls. If you are into owls, Wonderland might be the ticket for you!
Day 9: To Paradise River, 12.9 miles, 2379 gain, 2343 loss
We moved fast this day, knowing that we were getting closer to the end. We did take a lovely lunch at Louise Lake, where we enjoyed a long swim and relaxation on an actual sand beach. But it’s also next to a road, so we started to see more and more people as we got closer. At one point it was a bit jarring to see the masses of people and cars and even a fully dressed bride in a mountain photo shoot! Would she want some dirty backpackers in her photos?! Paradise river was another dark forested campsite, a good 10 minutes walk or more to the creek for water. We took our dinners to the creek to get some open sky above us during dinner.
Day 10: To Longmire, 3.83, 82 gain, 1339 loss
You might wonder why we didn’t just hoof it out on day 9, but we figured we had a guaranteed camp spot at Paradise. If we had hiked out, we’d have had to find somewhere to camp, probably driving a lot. Knowing that we were flying out the evening of Day 10, we decided we had plenty of time to hike out so we stayed put that evening. And while we were all eager to get showers and eat food, we were also feeling bittersweet that our amazing journey was ending. Like all longer hiking trips; that last campsite is a sad one.
The group got moving quickly this last morning, but I hung behind to use the last privy – did I mention the amazing privies on this trail? While the campsites were mostly nothing special, having a privy every day and never having to dig a cathole was such a luxury! They were mostly thunderboxes, open to the air which took away most of the smell. They are very well kept up by the hard working rangers. Anyway, knowing I was a good 10 minutes behind the rest, I took my time alone along the trail, just appreciating being out there still, and not eager to return to cars, traffic, consumerism, work, politics and other nonsense, etc. Waterfalls, streams to cross, more forest. I met a lady along the way, walking very slowly and carefully with two canes down the forest path. I slowed to chat; she had been a big outdoors person in her life, a hiker, and had a national parks shirt on. Now she could only take a few steps, slowly and carefully. I realized that in a few short years, this will be me. But she was not complaining, she was just enjoying her very slow meander in the woods, a big smile on her face. A lesson for the future.
We finished the trail, did our whoops and hollers, and found some lattes. Showered at a recreational park outside of Mt Rainier (there are none in the park or even nearby), had some chow in Enumclaw and headed north. We had stowed travel clothes in the rental car so we skipped laundry and took the teenager to the mall! Boarded our flight home, saying good bye to Mt Rainier, and the firestorm that ended up closing the park one day later.
Overall a wonderful trip, and I’m grateful to the fire fighters and park personnel who work hard to keep hikers safe. My sympathies to those whose adventures were cut short this summer at Mt Rainier; I hope you’ll get another chance. It’s well worth the trouble.
