tonymccray.com

Day 6 on the Wonderland Trail was to be our shortest day – 7.2 miles from Granite Creek Camp to White River Campground. After yesterday’s rain we woke up to cool weather and clear blue skies. After packing up and eating breakfast I hit the trail at 7:25. Granite Creek Camp as at 6000′, and the morning started with a climb out of the forest and up to Berkley Park at about 6700′. As the trail climbed higher we got better and better views of Rainier, whose summit was shrouded in a lenticular cloud.After about an hour we found ourselves above tree line on a ridge in front of Skyscraper Mountain, with 360-degree views of Mt. Rainier National Park, more mountains to the north, and meadowland all around. We took an early break here to just enjoy the view and take some pictures.

Continuing on the trail descended a bit into Berkeley Park. This was another spectacular area – one of the highlights of the trip. Some great views of Mt. Rainier, now to our south, views north to Grand Park, and a few small streams running through the expansive meadows of Berkeley Park itself. I could have sat here all day taking it all in! We saw another marmot here and got a few picutres, and finally saw a few pika as well after listening to their calls throughout the trip. They were too small and quick to get pictures of though!

At a trail junction at Frozen Lake Daniel took the shortest route into Sunrise to organize a ride home. This was the end of the trip for him, unfortunately. I continued on the Wonderland Trail, taking a slightly longer route to get to Sunrise, but avoiding the need to retrace my steps. The trail descended steeply for a bit before arriving at Sunrise Camp and Shadow Lake. At this point the trail mostly leveled out as it rounded a ridge, presenting amazing views of Emmons Glacier, the largest glacier in the lower 48 states, and of course Mt. Rainier towering over it all. Soon I reached a half-mile trail leading up to Sunrise.

Once at Sunrise I found Daniel, who was busy getting his cell phone charged up so he could call and arrange a ride home. After he made his call, I called Joanne to let her know what was going on. If she was really concerned about me going on alone, I couldn’t tell. We had to get off the phone more abruptly than I would have liked, as I thought Daniel’s phone was going to die. Talking to her was hard, as it made me realize how much I really missed her. I had serious thoughts of bailing along with Daniel to get home to her, but ultimately knew that finishing my hike was the right thing to do. The park rangers were unable to get Daniel a ride back to Longmire since they were short handed, but eventually someone named Liberty offered him a ride to Olympia. Daniel has family there, and happily accepted the ride, and I continued on my hike.

The hike to White River was downhill through thick forest. There weren’t a lot of views, so I just hiked along, making pretty good time. Once in White River camp I considered renting a drive in site so I could have a fire. When I found a couple of drive in sites located next to the walk-in sites I decided against it, figuring that if I really wanted a fire I could just buy some firewood and squat in one. I set up camp and laid out a bunch of my gear in the sun to dry – many things were still damp from the rain on day 4. I then ate an early dinner, hoping that I’d be hungry again later so I could eat some of my extra food and lighten my pack a bit. I picked up a second food cache at White River, and knowing day 7 would likely be my hardest day, I wanted to get my pack as light as I could! Turned out, I wasn’t hungry later.

I had arrived at camp at 2:19, so had plenty of time to kill before bed time. I talked with Steve for a while, the only other hiker staying in camp tonight. He is an ultralight guy, so naturally we talked gear for a while. His base pack weight is down to 11 lbs – I’ve definitely got some work to do, and some gear to invest in! Around 7:00 I headed down to the river to watch the sunset for a while. It was a bit hazy, but the view of Rainier was great, and the time I spent here was very relaxing. Next I went to the pay phone to call Joanne again. We talked for a while, mostly about how my trip had gone so far, and how my gear was working out. I felt a lot better after talking to her again, and was glad that I called again.

I was in my tent at 8:00, after what was more or less a rest day. This was the shortest day of the trip at 8.2 miles, including the one mile out and back to Sunrise. The terrain wasn’t difficult either. The day started with a climb, but ended with a descent of over 2000′ from Sunrise to White River. I was in camp very early as well, with many hours to set around and rest.

It took 6:23 to get from Granite Creek camp to White River, including 1:46 spent at Sunrise. It took over 3 hours to get from Granite Creek camp to Sunrise, but just over an hour to get from Sunrise to White River.

Here are some pictures. More are on SmugMug.

Me and Mt. Rainier from ridge near Berkeley Park

View from ridge above Berkely Park - Skyscraper Mountain on the left, Grand Park in the distance.

Marmot in Berkeley Park

Stream running through Berkeley Park

Wonderland Trail through Berkeley Park with Burroughs Mountain and Mt. Rainier

Emmons Glacier flowing down Mt. Rainier

Camp for the night in White River campground, behind a historic patrol cabin.