Day 6 of the Wonderland: Cataract Valley to Mystic Lake

Saturday, August 7, 2010

We had another late start today, waking at 9am. All the other campsites were up and about, but Katie and I were still in recovery mode from Day 4. My left knee is still bruised and my ankles are chaffed and blistered despite medical taping. A +40 pound pack really changes one’s abilities as a hiker and exacerbates all possible injuries, even the most minuscule.

When we finally did get up, I used the restroom (boxed toilet) after Katie and both of us spotted pikas up close (10-15 feet away). They must realize our moments of incapacitation!! We ate breakfast (raspberry crumble (!) and scrambled eggs and bacon) and packed up camp, leaving at 11am. I had to throw on a duckback at 11:15am to shield from the drizzle and the heavy mist threatening heavy rain. We descended down to Carbon River camp, the trail lined with moist ferns and ripe salmonberry bushes. We crossed another awesome suspension bridge and traversed tick territory through Dick’s Creek Camp.

The Carbon Glacier was really impressive to see, striated with black dirt veins and capped with a couple sparse patches of green grass, but it was also quite nerve wrecking given the propensity of rocks to fall down off the cliff onto unsuspecting hikers. Luckily, we only heard rocks fall across the glacier and hiked on unscathed.

After climbing some 15-20 switchbacks through forest, the trail unfolded in a meadow filled with wildflowers, stream, and whistling marmots. It was here that the threat of rain became reality, putting out a steady drizzle persistent enough to make marmot sightings difficult. Through the couple mile stretch, we spotted only five marmots – none of them gave vocal demonstrations. Disappointed, we climbed another ridge that was immensely steep. It was here that I ceded to the fact that I was cold and donned my poncho. The ridge ended abruptly and then descended for 8/10 mile past Mystic Lake (I’m sure it’s glorious in the sun but my disillusioned mind wanted to call it a big, still puddle and head to the comfort of the tent) to camping grounds.

We chose site two, under tall trees, but the rain is continuing. I ate beef stew, and Katie heated some Katmandu Curry. It helped warm us up before wet bathroom and bear pole runs. We’re so tired and cold that we’ve put off water filtering until the morning. A ranger just visited our tent to check permits and warn about bear activity. Bette’s book says there used to be a sign here that said something to the effect of “No mice – just bears”. Let’s see if the food bags survive the night!