The Wonderland Trail is an approximately 150 km hiking trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. The trail goes over many ridges of Mount Rainier for a cumulative 6,700 m of elevation gain. The trail was built in 1915. An estimated 200 to 250 people a year complete the entire trail with several thousand others doing shorter sections of it. The average time taken to complete the entire trip is 10 to 14 days.
The Wonderland Trail had never been on our bucket list. But the fact is that despite it was already October, when our local mountains often receive the first layer of snow, the weather was still warm and sunny with no end in long-term forecast. It would be a pity not to use such conditions, we thought , so one day Vera texted me at 3:25 a.m. : "...https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/washington/the-wonderland-trail?u=m 我们明天去这个吧?" I replied "could be a good project.." So we set to go.
Vera's suggested itinerary looked ambitious at first, but it turned out to be perfect: not too extreme, not too easy. Mileage in miles.
Day 1/7 (October 14)
Getting backpacking permit was super easy - after arriving at Longmire, we just walked in ranger's office, paid $6 USD, reserved all our six campsites and were loaned two bear canisters, for free.
Our gear total weight was ~75lb
On the trail, 150km to go
The trail is well marked all the way
Passing Indian Henry's Patrol Cabin. South-west of Mount Rainier at the back.
That silver line across the photo is actually the suspension bridge across Tahoma Creek. Impressive.
Emerald Ridge. Alpenglow on Mount Rainier.
Sunset at Emerald Ridge
One more shot of Rainier from Emerald Ridge
Our first camp was empty. We spent some time finding drinking water - many creeks were dry and we didn't dare to approach the rushing South Puyallup River (but we tried).
STATS for the Day 1
Longmire - South Puyallup River Camp
Distance 20.5 km
Total Time 7 hrs 43 min
Moving Speed 3.1 km/h
Once we left Longmire, it started raining, the next day it turned into snow which didn't stop for the next three days. The brilliant Indian Summer 2022 was over.
PHOTO: webcam shot at Paradise Vistitors Centre Oct-25