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My last night in the backcountry was nice. It was a warm night, and the stars were out. I didn’t sleep that well, waking up numerous times. I think I was anxious to get up and get moving. As great as things have been out here, I really wanted to get back home to my wife. I had planned on an early start, and ended up waking up and getting out of the tent at 5:45. It was still dark enough that I woke up, broke camp, and packed up with my headlamp on. I was ready to rock by 6:10, and I sat for a few more minutes in camp to watch the sunrise before heading out.

On the way out of camp I grabbed my food bag off the bear pole, waiting to get my food out and put the bag in my pack until I was away from camp so I didn’t wake the other campers. Breakfast this morning was on the go. The trail started out gently enough that I was able to stash my trekking poles on my pack so I had both hands free to eat my Pemmican. With breakfast out of the way I began to hustle a bit. I still had 11 miles to cover today. As the trail began to turn uphill, climbing through Steven’s Canyon, it also became incredibly overgrown. If I hadn’t actually been on the trail, I wouldn’t have been able to see it. There was even a moment when I did question if I was really still on the trail! My pants were soaked from all the dew on the brush, and my pace slowed down considerably. There were plenty of trip hazards hidden in the brush, so it was important to pay attention to where my feet were going down.

This overgrown section lasted for quite a while – a lot longer than I expected. There were occasional great views of Mt. Rainier through here, crystal clear in the early morning sun. It was beautiful! After about two hours I reached Louise Lake, one of the main attractions on today’s hike. There was a side trail (overgrown of course) down to the lake, and I took it. The view and the feel of the area, this early in the morning, were amazing. It helped that I had the place all to myself. The water was calm, reflecting the surrounding hills (Rainier wasn’t visible from here), and there was a light fog hovering just above the water over much of the lake. There were deer tracks all over. If they were there when I showed up, I definitely scared them off. I was there long enough to recognize how luck I was to be there before moving on.

Back on the Wonderland Trail I quickly arrived at Reflection Lakes. These lakes give an amazing view of Mt. Rainier, with the mountain reflecting off the lake in the right conditions. Well, early morning is usually the right conditions! The reflection off the lake was pretty amazing. Interestingly the summit of Rainier was now covered with a thick lenticular cloud. That wasn’t there an hour ago! I took some photos and then sat on the retaining wall to have a snack, and take it all in. Sure I was in a hurry, but I also wasn’t going to pass anything by without fully enjoying it. I spent a little over 20 minutes here, striking up a conversation with someone who wanted to know about my trip, and the highlights.

From here I anticipated the rest of the 5.8 miles to be rather boring. I read in a guidebook that this section of trail, back to Longmire, is often hot, muggy, and boring. Fortunately it really wasn’t any of those things for me.

First, there were the incredibly delicious huckleberries near the lakes. I couldn’t believe that there were so many of them so close to areas that almost everyone who visits Mt. Rainier drives to. I took my fair share of handfulls. When the trail turned downhill, as I began the 2000+ foot descent back to Longmire, reentering thick forest, and a deer jumped out on the trail right in front of me. She looked as surprised to see me as I was to see her. I tried to get my camera out, but she was off the trail too fast. If I had been paying attention I could have gotten a picture of her baby when it came out onto the trail next! Oh well.

Continuing on I took another short side trail up to Narada Falls, which the Paradise River flows over. I’d been there before, but had never ventured below the falls, and there wasn’t any reason to skip it now. There were several more waterfalls in this area. One, Madcap Falls, was really cool. The other was Carter Falls. There are actually signs at trailheads directing people up the Wonderland Trail to Carter Falls. I feel sorry for anyone who hikes up there just for these falls – you can barely even see them through the trees!

Eventually I got to where the Paradise River flows into the Nisqually River. I crossed the Nisqually over a couple of log bridges, admiring the amazing view up to Rainier, still covered with the lenticular cloud. I only had about a mile to go here. I cruised the rest of the way down, stopping for a victory photo at the Longmire trailhead, having covered today’s 10.9 miles in 5:12.

I feel really lucky that yesterday I wasn’t up to cruising all the way to Paradise Camp so I had a shorter hike out today. The things I saw today, particularly the lakes, were spectacular. Had I rushed it yesterday, I would have arrived at the lakes late in the day, when conditions aren’t normally good for the kind of views I experienced.

Here are some pictures from the day. More are at SmugMug.

Overgrown section of the trail

Mt. Rainier from Stevens Canyon - two miles from Reflection Lakes and the summit is visible

Me, very happy to be enjoying the view at Louise Lake, and the solitude

Mt. Rainier from Reflection Lakes. Notice the lenticular cloud covering the summit - that wasn't there 40 minutes ago!

Huckleberries and blueberries were available by the handful around Reflection Lakes

Mt. Rainier - even more obscured by clouds - at the Nisqually River crossing, about 4 miles past Reflection Lakes

The best things in life come full circle. Here I am back where I started nine days ago.