Wonderland Trail, Tahoma Creek Suspension Bridge - Emerald Ridge Loop, South Puyallup to Klapatche, Indian Henry's Hunting Ground via Longmire, St. Andrews Park - St. Andrews Lake & Mowich River — Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2022

Day #5

I entered the early entry lottery back in March, 2022 and ended up with pretty much first pick of an itinerary. Pretty darn lucky.

Taking the last week of July for 9 days with a route heading counter clockwise, we started at White River so we would only have to drop one cache at Mowich the day before and then have my husband meet us at Longmire for the other cache.

The reports from WTA, the NPS, and rangers at all stations I visited the week prior made a huge difference in whether we changed our itinerary the day before. 

HAZARDS *** More details will follow in specific reports for each section but in general we were aware of the following areas prior to leaving for the 9 day circuit.

Mowich Rivers-At the time we started the Mowich River both north and south had no footbridge. The north would have to be navigated by bushwhacking and finding an alternate way using downed timber across the river. The south would need to be forded. We planned to get our feet wet. 

Snow- With the late spring snow, we took our micro spikes and expected to get wet. I wore my trail runners most of the time wet and went through several pair of socks.

Heat- What we never expected was the heat in the 80's-90's that started the first day of our trip.

Bugs- My friends were bit up! Devil's Dream was unbearable!

Section Details: The heat of the morning was no surprise as we broke camp at sunrise. A few whisps of clouds mingled in with the still air of morning.

Heading out for a long day and the beauty of St. Andrews Lake, we anticipated dipping our toes and having breakfast on the trail after putting a few miles behind us. 

St. Andrews Lake was still ice covered. Just a few 100 ft above Aurora there were two different worlds, like fire and ice. We made our way across patchy snow and headed toward North and South Puyallup, a long trek downhill in the trees.

As we stopped for a break and snack, we crossed paths and met Mark, trail name "Jolly Rancher". Mark recounted his experience crossing the North Mowich River. 

Mark approached the crossing differently. In his years of PCT experience he had forded many rivers. This river being no different, he then attempted to ford the North Mowich underestimating the glacial force. 

With ice axe, poles, and backpack unbuckled he began to cross upriver and was quickly swept away by the strong current. Pulled under he thought he was going to die. He popped up downriver, only minus his ice axe and a pole, then miraculously his other pole popped up, spared, along with his life. 

By sharing our stories, we came to realize just how lucky we were having each other to share, discuss and problem solve throughout this journey. There will no doubt be more perils to work through.

As Emerald Ridge came to view and we crossed the suspension bridge of the Tahoma Glacier, I realized this is why we do what we do. The risk is worth the journey.

That was until I raced my way through Devil's Dream swatting insects the entire way!

Garmin

13.54 miles (+3352, -5022)