[Stroszek]

Hey all! I was lucky enough to win the EA lottery and get an early timeslot so I assume I’ll have my pick of campsites and dates. This is the itinerary I’ve put together. I’m not dead-set on the dates, but given that I may never draw as good a timeslot again I figured I might as well aim for peak wildflower season. I’ve been backpacking the past few years and am in decent shape though I’m not an athlete by any means. I’m based in the Midwest and have backpacked in Isle Royale, the Porcupine Mountains, and the BWCA. The hardest trail I’ve done is the Minong Ridge, and the most I’ve backpacked in a day is 18 miles, though obviously even the most rugged areas of the Midwest don’t have PNW let alone Wonderland levels of elevation gain. I’m a lightweight but not ultralight backpacker, I need to update my lighter pack but I think my base weight is in the low teens. I would also cache food (via mail) so I would only have to carry 3-4 days at a time. I think this itinerary is doable for me though it will definitely be challenging, particularly the first day. I’m planning to train on the weekends by backpacking as many miles as possible on the Ice Age Trail, which obviously isn’t ideal in terms of elevation gain but there isn’t really anything close to me that is. Thoughts? TIA!

[Randito]

One thing to stood out to me was that your 1st day is almost 13 miles and 2nd day under 5. If you are staying in the National Park Inn at Longmire, no problem, but if you are traveling to get to the trailhead. I would think about having below average for trip mileage for the 1st day to allow time spent traveling, farting around in the wilderness information center getting your permits, making adjustments to your pack and the fact that your pack is at maximum weight. Mileage is one factor to consider , elevation gain is also important, here is one tool for figuring the total effort involved, including the elevation changes. https://www.nwhiker.com/HikeEval.html Compared to many other long distance trail, the Wonderland trail rarely cruises along at the same elevation, you are basically always either climbing or dropping.

[Stroszek]

Good point, thanks! I’m trying to avoid Devil’s Dream and save Indian Bar/Summerland for the end of the trip, but I’m realizing that White River might be a better starting point to accomplish that while avoiding that brutal first day (not to say that it’ll be easy). I’ll be carrying a camera so I don’t necessarily mind having short days and long days on the trail if the difficult days are still doable.

[williswall]

Looks good, you have some shorter days but they will serve as recovery time and let you linger at cool spots. I agree that your first day could be tough if you are traveling…if not staying at Longmire maybe stay at cougar rock or someplace close in the night before. Good luck!

[Bruce Albert]

I have a couple of thoughts; First would be to spend night one at Devil's Dream. This site seems to get a bad rap I don't fully understand. You are going in flower season; there will be bugs, lots of bugs in lots of places. You'll acclimate. But stopping at Devils' dream means you drop your overnite stuff and have a the afternoon to explore and wander about in Indian Henry's instead of hurrying through because you have miles to go. Day two to Klapatche will still be short enough to allow needed lollygagging at Emerald Ridge and St. Andrews Parks on the way by. Pushing through past Klapatche to camp down at the Puyallup River would be just...wrong. Golden Lakes/Sunset Park is worth a night spent. All that can be said about Eagles Roost is that it is a short jaunt from Spray Park through which you will again want to sightsee and lollygag.On my first long ago Wonderland we spent two nights, legally, in Spray Park for just that reason. Which brings me to editorial point number one, which is that Spray Park and Indian Henry's both are large enough that an intelligently sited camp area, yes right up there in the meadow country with a view like god intended, would be just fine. Sticking people down in the woods without reason is just...dumb...and you don't see them ripping out the Ranger Cabin up in the meadows at Indian Henry's in the name of wilderness purity, do you? Anyhow movin' right along around the Mountain I can't speak to Dick Creek, or Granite Creek, but Mystic Lake is worth a night; give my love to the great, great grandchildren of the original nuisance bear. If I remember right Mystic Lake to White River is a reasonable day. Summerland and Indian Bar are essential for a night each; climb up open slopes above the Indian Bar shelter to reach ther really pretty Cowlitz Park. Nickel Creek may be a nicer spot than Maple creek...or not...and then it's just up and over and back to Longmire. Editorial point number two is that permits or not, prescribed itineraries with places you have to be each night without alternatives are dumb as well. Bowron Lakes Park in BC, roughly analogous to the Wonderland in terms of length and popularity (even though it's a canoe loop) has a permit system with designated spots where they let a given number of people embark each day and leave it up to them where they camp and how long they take within reason. It works really well in my experience and it's nice to have the latitude come stormy day or lazy day to just hang and not move camp at all. Down at Rainier such things will have you run afoul of the law. Anyhow, prepare for mucho up and down, and enjoy your trip; even with the nuttiness imposed by the NPS the circumnavigation of Rainier is pretty awesome.

[zimmertr]

[Joseph]

My feedback: congratulations on winning the lottery. But, you have both Summerland and Indian Bar on this trip, which will make it very, very difficult for another group to piece together an itinerary (with Indian Bar and Summerland full, it requires people to hike White River to Nickel Creek or even Maple Creek. Which is very long and probablyoutside the abilities of other hikers. I know you won the lottery, but out of consideration for others' chances, perhaps don't camp at both Summerland and Indian Bar - choose one?

[zimmertr]

[Bruce Albert]

[Joseph]

[Eric Hansen]

Stroszek, pm me if you are interested in thoughts on best training routines while in the Midwest. I'm Wisconsin based but have considerable background in Western backpacking trips with sizeable vertical. 46 Grand Canyon trips. Most of the high peaks and alpine routes in Glacier NP, 2 month long Sierra trips, and more.

[reststep]

It would be interesting to know why the park does not allow use of backcountry wilderness zones when hiking the Wonderland Trail. https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/upload/2004-BC-Camps-and-Zones_access_Jan2018.pdf

[Hesman]

I rather enjoyed my night at Devils Dream. Did an evening stroll to Indian Henry’s Ranger Station and back. Also met some people there who I ended up chitchatting with the time I was there and I remember one person from the group was jealous of my cheddar cheese. He wanted all my cheese and we had a good laugh about him keeping his greedy hands off my cheese. I would camp at Devils Dream instead of South Puyallup. I would also switch Dick Creek to Mystic Lake. You would have a much more enjoyable evening resting from a day of hiking on the shore of the lake. I wasn’t all that impressed with Dick Creek and I didn’t even spend the night there. If you switch from Dick Creek to Mystic Lake, then I would also switch from Granite Creek to Sunrise Camp (maybe include a side trip to Mt. Fremont. I did a side trip to Sunrise and got an ice cream cone.) or White River. This would let you have more to time to relax and check stuff out at Summerland. When I camped at Summerland I met a group of hikers who were spending the night at Summerland and Indian Bar. I was jealous of them.

[zimmertr]

The water source near Devil's Dream's has a cool private pool above the waterfall you can scramble up to as well. Just make sure no one is collecting water below you first. +1 on switching Dick Creek for Mystic Lake

[Malachai Constant]

Dick Creek is a good base camp for exploring the Elesian Fields but a mediocre camp for the Wonderland as it is small and not much safe areas for exploring nearby. Mystic lake Camp is well below the lake but within a short walk.