The tale of an early season thru-hike of the Wonderland Trail, with much snow travel and river fording. It's called An Unexpected Adventure because when we originally got our permits for a July 8th start, we knew there would be at least some snow, but we were planning on a relaxed, easy going trip. Instead, Washington kept getting snow even into June and we were faced with about 60% snow coverage and several bridges out. I had not gotten in any good postholing since the CDT in 2019, so we decided to give it a whirl. The result was an exciting (and unexpected) adventure!
The Wonderland Trail is a 93 mile loop around Mount Rainier with consistently excellent views and normally easy travel, traits which make it very popular. So it was truly special to experience solitude on such a well known and often crowded trail.
Gear List: lighterpack.com/r/var5mw
Trip report: / tr_early_season_wonder...
Trip itinerary:
Clockwise from Longmire
Day 1, Longmire to South Puyallup River
Day 2, S Puyallup to Golden Lakes
Day 3, Golden Lakes to Mowich Lake
Day 4, Mowich Lake to Dick Creek Camp
Day 5, Dick Creek to Sunrise
Day 6, Sunrise to Summerland
Day 7, Summerland to Nickel Creek
Day 8 back to car
15 ноя 2022
