On paper, day 7 looked to be the hardest day. It was close to the longest at 12.2 miles, had a big climb leading the the high point of the Wonderland Trail, and then a steep descent to camp. I was lucky that day 6 turned out to be one of the easier ones. I slept great in the White River campground, and was out of the tent at 6:00, around sunrise. I took a little bit of time getting ready, enjoying the last bits of civilization I would enjoy for a few days, such as flushing toilets.I hit the trail at 7:25, catching some early rays hitting Mt. Rainier as I enjoyed a sunrise perspective from the viewpoint I caught yesterday’s sunset from. The first few miles today turned out to be easy – perhaps the easiest on the entire Wonderland Trail. From White River camp at about 4500′ the trail descends to 3800′ at the Frying Pan Creek trailhead over about 2.6 miles. For some reason, I felt pretty great this morning, so I covered this section pretty quickly. It helped that it was through thick forest, so there wasn’t much to stop and take pictures of.
When it looked like the trail was staring to turn back uphill I stopped for a few minutes to put some moleskin on a few hotspots on my feet. A few tender spots had developed since day 5’s rain. That taken care of, I started the climb. As I climbed higher, following Frying Pan Creek much of the way, the views also improved, getting better and better as I climbed up towards Summerland. The trail began climbing more steeply here, but there seemed to be so many great photo ops that I ended up taking frequent breaks. After 2:47 I arrived at Summerland Camp, having covered 6.7 miles. Those may have been the fastest miles I covered during the entire trip!
Summerland was amazing. I can see why this is one of the more popular areas of the park. The meadows were beautiful, and the views of Rainier behind them awesome. Add to that view across Frying Pan Creek to Goat Island Mountain, down another valley to the east, and up towards Panhandle Gap, where the Wonderland Trial goes next, and there is almost too much here to even take it all in. I located the group campsite, set some gear and my feet out in the sun, and ate lunch while just enjoying the view. After 40 minutes, after considering the idea that I was probably the only person around for miles (after all, I had gotten a pretty early start) I packed up to continue on, only to discover a family of four and another party also leaving camp. So much for my perceived solitude!
From Summerland Camp the trail descended briefly to a stream where I took on some water. Looking ahead, it is hard to tell where the trail actually goes. The terrain looks steep, and it is hard to believe that the Wonderland Trail, or any trail, actually goes through there. After climbing a stair-stepped hill the trail enters a high alpine area where not much grows other than rocks and a few sparse plants. On nearby cliffs there were still many snowfields melting out, providing water for many waterfalls, high alpine lakes, and the streams flowing from them. I feel like I must have stopped every five steps up here as the perspective on the scenery changed. I felt incredibly lucky to be in that place.
Continuing to climb I eventually got to Panhandle Gap at about 6700′ – the highest point on the Wonderland Trail, and stopped there for a while to take in the view. I could still see down into Summerland, but now I could also see to the southeast and into Ohanapecosh Park and a distant Mt. Adams. From here the trail went on a series of ups and downs of a few hundred feet, sometimes steeply, crossing several streams flowing from snowmelt. I even had to cross a very small snowfield. After many more stops I made it to a ridge from which you can see the Frying Pan and Ohanapecosh Glaciers perched at the tops of cliffs with water flowing down from there. From here the trail descended steeply 1600′ down what must have been 1000 steps to Indian Bar. The scenery throughout was amazing, and the ripe blueberries made frequent rest stops more or less mandatory.
The Indian Bar area is just as amazing as the rest of what I saw today. Views into Ohanapecosh and Cowlitz Parks, separated by the Ohanapecosh River (or at least its headwaters), with views clear up to the Ohanapecosh and Frying Pan Glaciers, were mezmerizing. I set up in site 2, as recomended by some other hikers I saw earlier on the trail. It was incredible, by far the best camp I had during the trip, and it would make a great place to spend the afternoon.
All together it took me 6:53 to get from White River to Indian Bar Camp, and while it was a difficult day it wasn’t as hard as I had expected. By far, it was the highlight of the trip.
Here are some pictures from today. More are at SmugMug.
Early morning sun on Mt. Rainier over the White River
Frying Pan Creek, and an early glimpse of Mt. Rainier
Mt. Rainier and Summerland
Wonderland Trail, in foreground and background, heading away from Summerland
The view from Panhandle Gap
A view of Ohanapecosh Park and distant mountains
The only snowfield I had to cross. This picture makes it look more dangerous than it really was.
Wonderland Trail at the beginning of the descent to Indian Bar, with Frying Pan and Ohanapecosh Glaciers.
River flowing from Ohanapecosh Glacier through Indian Bar
The view from night 7 camp. Can you imagine waking up to this view? I was lucky enough to on one morning.
