Journey Return

Wednesday, September 4
Wonderland Trail Day #1
Start: Longmire
Stop: Devil’s Dream Camp
5.8 miles
2,568’ ascent
406’ descent 

A barred owl hoots as some animal whose cry is not in my auditory catalog howls along the banks of Big Creek. My watch alarm goes off at 4 am after a fitful night of sleep. I remove the few items from my tent but leave my tent setup. By 4:30 am I’m driving towards the Longmire Wilderness Information Center (WIC). The Mount Rainier National Park welcome entry point sits quiet and virtually dark. When I drive by the WIC I can see that no one is seated on the lighted porch. I park my truck, grab my stuff and head over but now there is someone sitting there. So, minutes before 5 am I am #2 in line. #1 Sadie Ledge Girl and I start chatting about hiking and trails and adventures and how she’s taking a year off from being a kindergarten teacher. About 6:30 am #3 Josh arrives and after he studies the permit numbers for awhile, he joins the conversation too. As 7:30 am nears the WIC prepares to open and our trail conversation ends with stories about Anish and how we may draw from her strength and inspiration as we test ourselves over the next days.

It seems that everyone is able to get a permit and my last minute single day reservations plus walk-up requests are pieced together to make one itinerary. Now I have to decide whether I go back to my campsite or directly to the White River Campground to deliver my resupply. I decide to go back to camp because I want to collect my tent ASAP. I get everything put together and sorted and before I know it, it’s 11 am.

The White River Campground is about an hour and a half drive away one way. I let Google maps take me down a road that turns out to be closed. I backtrack and reroute to Longmire, going through the National Park entry point and paying the $30 this time. At this point it’s noon and I have another big decision to make. The driving time is easily 3+ hours and I still have a few final preparations. I decide I’d rather have plenty of time on trail than to deliver a 2-day resupply. It’s worth it to me to carry a little extra and eat a little less, than to drive 3 hours and be rushing to camp tonight. Plus, there’s some bicycle ride today where cyclists are riding around Tahoma so that’s only going to slow things down more. 

It’s time to get serious. I open up my pack and go through things again. I take out my rain pants, fleece socks, bug head net and map. I figure that’s at least a pound. I dump out my prepared 2-day resupply, select the foods with the highest calorie to weight ratio and add them to my food bag. And if I need extra food maybe I can buy some at the Sunrise Visitor Center or find some in a hiker box at White River Backpacker Camp.

I fit everything into the cab of my truck, change my clothes and start to make my way towards the trailhead. I hear someone shout “Lionheart” and I spin around to see #1 Sadie Ledge Girl who’s about to hit the trail too. It’s pretty special and a tad nostalgic to have someone call me Lionheart. I do one last check with the Wi-Fi at the WIC and hit the trail about 1:30 pm. I follow a day hiker who is going pretty close to my speed. As she splits off onto a different trail, she wishes me a good hike. Despite the weight of my pack, I feel strong as I make steady progress. Lionheart is back!

The roaring fingers of the Kautz Creek are audible as the trail switchbacks down to the river. I push through the brush and start crossing the outer fingers of the creek. But then there’s no getting around the deep rushing torrent. I slip my toes into the chalky water to feel around for a good spot to put my foot. The current is strong enough that I have to use all my strength and focus to keep moving one foot in front of the other. My poles vibrate against the milky cascade as I slowly pick my way across. With each step, the water tries to pull my foot and me downriver. Once safely on dry rocks, I see red flags trailing through the brush and I follow them to one final shallow crossing. 

I pass a group of guys at Pyramid Creek camp who are all down at the Pyramid Creek getting water. Luckily, there’s a little wooden bridge across the deepest part of this creek. I walk almost another mile before I take a short water and snack break. I check the far out app, which I’m trying out for the first time, and see that I have 8/10 of a mile to where I’ll get water just before my camp. I pass up other lovely water sources only to arrive at a virtually silent creekbed. I head upstream in search of the little trickle that I hear. I certainly don’t want to walk a half mile past camp and then back so I’ve got to make this work. There’s water pouring through the moss into one little pool of clear water that’s deep enough for me to scoop out of. Even though the water is ice cold, I do filter it and fill all my bottles. Just as I’m finishing, I see Ledge Girl come by but it seems she doesn’t see me. Loaded down with 2.5 liters of water and 5-6 days of food, I huff and puff and work real hard to catch up with her. We chat for several minutes before I arrive at my camp. It’s about 5:15 pm and she’s still got another 6 miles to go. I’m a little worried that she won’t make it before it’s dark.

After climbing almost the whole 5.8 miles, I’m happy to arrive at Devil’s Dream Camp. At an elevation of 4,982 ft., it’s a dry camp this time of year and in the middle of the forest on a hillside. The campsites are scattered along the trail as it switchbacks the hillside. I take a campsite near a large group and hope that I don’t regret it. I pull out my tent ground sheet and let it dry a bit while I send some inReach text messages. While in my tent changing my top, a lady from the group campsite comes over to ask if they are being too loud. If you need to ask then you probably already know the answer….but I try to be kind and tell them everything is ok. She asks me where I started today and where my next camp will be. She seems a little miffed and then asks if I am a thru-hiker. She tells me they have a PCT thru-hiker in their group too. After I ring the water out from my socks, I pull some snacks from my food bag for dinner. I have a good view of the food hanging pole where everyone must hang their food and that provides some easy entertainment. Luckily, the loud and chatty saviors-of-the-world group quiets down by 8 pm.

Pros:
Although more expensive, reserving camps day by day so ensure I get my wanted camps
Being able to add camps as a walk-up
Being called Lionheart
Being able to instantly modify plans
Camping at the lovely and spacious Big Creek Campground (with cell service!) just a 20-minute drive from Longmire
If you enter MRNP after the entry point closes and before it opens, you don’t have to pay the entry fee

Cons:
Not having enough time to deliver my resupply
Arriving the day of a big bike ride