Day 5 of the Wonderland: Mowich Lake Walk-in Campground to Cataract Valley

Friday, August 6, 2010

We began today at around 7:30am. Although it was another sunny start, our tent was draped in morning dew and dusty from the campsite (it was really a sandbox). We got up and delayed our departure to allow it to dry. We both had some oatmeal and received seconds from the Indiana family with four weeks at Rainier (oatmeal, apples and milk make crazy delicious), and Katie ate some grits with the family from Georgia. We eventually ended our socialization, pumped water, and packed up for the day.




We left Mowich Lake at 10:55am and headed towards Spray Park. I overdressed for the ‘cold’ which was actually sunny heat and removed my athletic wear jacket after a mile.

We took pictures at Eagle’s Roost, where we had an open view of Rainier, and then we took a small detour to the invigorating Spray Falls – a web of misty, tumultuous water. Spray Park itself took a long twelve switchbacks to reach, but the flowers here, coupled with mountain views and adorable marmot, were amazing.

We continued along the ridge peak across a few snowfields (nothing too dangerous or cumbersome) and found ourselves hiking through rolling green hills that descended gradually about 800 feet into camp. If the ‘Lord of the Rings’ had campy elves or hobbits with extra bounce and spring, this ridge-side would be an ideal setting, especially with the little waterfalls, dwarf trees, and dense, wet grasses topped with perfectly placed flowers. But, despite being beautiful, Katie and I were exhausted by the previous day and out of balance due to the late start and missed lunch. Katie could only think of dinner, and I could only consider my aching feet.

We’ve finally made it and are in campsite five now, which is by the water stream and the toilet. The camp is very full of people (the rumor is that there are no available campsites on the Wonderland Trail tonight) so we had a guest over for dinner who is meeting up with his hiking companions tomorrow. We had a nice chat about hiking stories, tips, and tricks, but Katie and I were distracted and gave quite a bit of attention to our food (chicken teriyaki, peanut butter/crackers, lychees, hot cocoa; same for Katie except with primavera pasta instead). After filtering water, all three of us climbed a couple of rocks behind the toilet boxes in order to watch for pikas. We caught short glimpses but nothing significant aside from repeated ‘meep!’ from all angles of the wall of rock. Maybe we’ll be luckier tomorrow. Sleeping by 10pm tonight.