Rainier: Northern Loop

Beth & I set out last week to do the "northern loop" trail at Mt.Rainier. While we were planning an adventure, it turned into much more than we expected! We "ramped up" the previous week by hiking Granite Mountain Outlook near Denny Creek in the rain. We figured if we could handle that we could handle anything...

We started off at Sunrise with the plan to head west on the Wonderland trail then loop back across the northern loop. Day one we set off from Sunrise late morning. We would of been earlier, but we had to stop for a donut and cookies for lunch at the Black Diamond Bakery. Cookies talk. We stopped at the intersection with the Burroughs Trail to adjust Beth's boots (this should of been an early warning!). Some other folks were there who were on their way to Sunrise after being on the Wonderland trail for a full week. Can't say I envy their start: the previous week had a pretty heavy downfall of rain early on. They said it took two days to get everything dry! yikes. I don't mind a bit of rain, it makes a journey memorable like it or not, but a wet sleeping bag is about the worst thing in the world.

Back on the trail, we made it to Skyscrape Pass for lunch. Enjoyed some sandwiches I made in the morning along with the previously mentioned cookies. The view from up there was fantastic but eventually we had to get going again. We passed the Granite Creek camp just as I thought it would make a nice place to settle for the evening. Our reservation was for Mystic Lake, another 5.5 miles down the trail. It wasn't too bad passing around the Winthrop Glacier, but we were running low on energy on the hike up to Mystic Lake. Finally made it up there as we were both getting pretty pooped and Beth's ankle was getting bad.

Setup camp and made a little hike up to Mystic Lake just as the sun was about to disappear over the hills. Back down to camp for dinner and a checkup from Paul the ranger who gave us a heads up on our next day's hike after checking our permit. Being Beth's first backpacking hike we went a bit gourmet for dinner. Thai noodles with peanut sauce and chicken from a can. I unloaded two PBR tall boys from the pack that were a bit warm, glad I wouldn't have to carry those any further. Cleanup and it was getting pretty late, time for bed.

The next morning was some hiking through amazing meadows and down the hill following the Carbon Glacier. The original plan was for lunch at the bottom of the hill to recharge us for the trek up 3000 ft to camp at Yellowstone Cliffs. Beth's ankle was getting bad and while she wanted to go on, it wouldn't be very fun. Halfway down Ranger Paul passed us on the trail. We took the opportunity to talk with him and change our itinerary to Ipsut Creek Camp. It was further in distance but flat hiking and we could exit at the Carbon River entrance the next day to get Beth's ankle a look at.

We took it real easy the rest of the day and enjoyed the view of the glacier and river that stemmed from it. As we hiked down the hill we ran into Keri, who was also hiking to Ipsut Creek. Keri was kind enough to loan Beth his treking poles making the rest of her day a bit easier. The itinerary change was a good thing as we didn't make it to the trail intersection til late afternoon. We had a late lunch there before saying goodbye to our view of Rainier and heading into the forest.

Late afternoon dragged along til we made it to the camp. Beth returned the poles to Keri and thanked him for their use while I made some dinner. Chinese noodles in an Indian sauce with a tin of smoked mussels and another of tuna. The stuff you cook up while camping...

Got an early start the next morning and hiked out to the Carbon River entrance. Only problem at this point was the car was at Sunrise. doh! The funny thing about Carbon River is you can't see Rainier at all from there, which most people don't expect. So some people show up, figure that out, then head to a different part of the park.

With this knowledge in hand we started practicing our hitchhiking thumbs. With the thumbs along it wasn't going to happen. On to option 2: have Beth talk to drivers heading out and tell them her bad ankle situation. Fortune must of been smiling upon us as we found a mom with three kids and a big SUV. She more than kindly drove us to Sunrise. Big thanks for that!

Back at Sunrise we got a few more pictures as we had some gorp for lunch and headed back home a day early. Really beautiful trail and I'm determined to go back for more at Rainier. I'd never been to the Carbon River Entrance before but it seems like it'd make a good base camp for some hiking. You can bike the road up to Ipsut Creek camp, lockup bikes there while heading out to other camps. I'd also like to do the entire Wonderland Trail sometime next year. It'd take a lot more planning and the meals won't be quite as gourmet but it'd be a good challenge.