Day 1 of the Wonderland Trail: Longmire (Trailhead) to Devil’s Dream

Monday, August 2, 2010

I woke up this morning at about 3:45am worrying that I hadn't seen my flashlight during the previous night's bag packing session. After doing last minute checks for it and other essential gear, Katie arrived to pick me up at 4:45am. We took off soon after for Sunrise Ranger station to apply for our permits.

Arriving at around 7:45am due to gas stops and a couple of missing signs, we cheerfully asked for and received an amazing set of campsites around the Wonderland Trail loop. We dropped off a food cache for White River Campground with the rangers (they’re kind enough to take it the rest of the way for us), and we drove out for more gas before heading to Longmire. After eating lunch (a veggie burger for Katie and a bowl of chili for me) at the inn, we performed final gear/supply checks and added/removed some items trying to balance weight with necessity.

We finally parted from the car and flushing toilets with all the supplies necessary to last at least seven days. Although our packs are heavy, they didn’t begin to feel inhibiting until the trail began to incline (this was about 50 feet in!). The trail itself to Devil’s Dream was a good start with about six miles covered. We passed some amazing river beds with huge boulders while finding paths across the water.

The closer we got to camp, the warmer and buggier it became – we were literally driven on by their insistence, even when I thought that my legs could walk no longer! Eventually, with a lot of patience and steady pacing by Katie, we made it to the campsite.

It has a well maintained little toilet stall, a waterfall that we can hear from campsite four, and… inevitably… an army of mosquitoes. It feels like we’re in ‘Inception’ being bombarded in the first dream world by an unexpectedly trained defense system. But once our tent and tent fly were up (thank goodness I opted to carry the tent fly rather than a couple of tarps!), deet and rain jackets were extracted from the packs and were donned to help our water filtering attempts. I became quite wet while using the spray of the waterfall to deter the pests, but changed quickly into my cotton sleeping outfit and set my clothes to dry inside the tent.

At 7:30pm, I began to fall asleep and by 8pm both Katie and I were napping with the intention of eating a late dinner. That dinner didn’t happen, as when Katie woke me up at 9pm, I agreed with her that hunger was a much lower priority than sleep. I got up once at midnight, though, to use the toilet. I’ve never seen this number of stars before! Despite our forest cover, the sky is lit only by these far off celestial bodies. If I weren’t so tired, I’d stay up to watch them. Inside the tent, we are actually able to see the outline of the seams of the tent body while trying to sleep. It’s amazing how bright the stars can be outside the city.