
Day 1 - Departed on trail from Sunrise by about 9:30 AM. My hiking partner for the next 3 days would be Goober Canari. Went up to Sourdough Ridge trail to Frozen Lake. Lake no longer frozen but a cool-looking, glacier-like large snowbank on the far shore. We would be attempting the loop counter-clockwise so went right at junction to Berkleley Park. Wildflowers pretty much at their peak. I wish I could bottle the fragrance! Saw some marmots in the area. Lots of water in Lodi Creek. Passed 2 groups of 3 guys also doing the loop but in the opposite direction. One group had no bug repellent amongst the entire group. They said bugs were bad until Fire Creek camp. We met the second group and had lunch near Grand Park. Weather was getting hot. Enjoyed cold pizza and other ""heavy"" food packed for the first day. Guys saw us eating pizza and were none too happy. We continued on past Grand Park into the forest. Bugs lessened and by Fire Creek were mostly gone. We came across some other people that had camped at West Fork White River. They said that they had permits to camp at Lake James (as we did) but the mosquitoes were so bad they kept going. Bugs were not bad at the river. This, unfortunately, was not a good option for us, going in the opposite direction. At the river is Van Horn Creek. We stopped and soaked our feet. Felt awesome. Another couple there told us they were also camping at Lake James. We later saw them at Lake James and the bugs/mosquitoes were really bad. We decided to keep going to Windy Gap. Several large blowdowns between Lake James and Windy Gap. About the only section of this whole hike that had obstructions (The Wonderland trail was really well maintained). We found a good spot to camp in Windy Gap which wasn't windy at all and had just about as many bugs as Lake James. But the scenery was awesome, surrounded by jagged, snow-capped peaks, heather fields, creeks, etc. Saw sunset, and full-moon rise above the mountains from the windows of our tent.
Day 2 - First thing in morning we set out on spur trail to the Natural Bridge which we had camped nearby. About a mile hike downhill to the bridge. Not hard to scramble down to bridge itself if careful. Lake James and Lake Ethel visible below. Returned and took down camp. Proceeded toward Yellowstone Cliffs. Trail loses elevation and into forest. Some snow patches on trail but easy to negotiate. Saw black bear lumbering up on hillside just before Yellowstone Cliffs. Back into forest and switchbacks down to Carbon River. In forest, British fellow passed us. He was doing entire Wonderland Trail but got rerouted thru Northern Loop due to other campsites being full. He was disappointed he missed the bear, he had seen the scat on the trail. We also saw several frogs, pikas, and G.C. told me he saw a grouse. It did later explode from out of the bushes but he had already seen it and was prepared. Down at Carbon River, got some water at Spukwush Creek. More people on this stretch of trail. Hot going up the trail adjacent to Carbon Glacier. A guy on a rock told us that bugs were not bad at Mystic Lake camp. Some snow patches in Morraine Park but not too bad. Bugs again bad in this area though. Bugs lessened by the time we made it to Mystic Lake. Nobody swimming, although, we would pass three ladies later heading up that way to swim. Our campsite was the group camp which was 0.3 miles past the lake. We ran out of energy and did not climb back up to the lake later for a dip. The campsite was really nice and pretty much free of bugs. Only one other solo hiker in the camp. Heard Michael Phelps got the 8th gold medal on the radio!
Day 3 - Down, down, down to the Winthrop Glacier. Thunder showers in forecast but never became more than a sprinkle. Got windy and felt good after all the hot hiking. Took a break on the east side of the Winthrop Glacier snout. Saw and heard small rockfall down the face of the glacier. Some big rocks look like they were ready to go, but did not dislodge. Stopped again at Granite Creek after a lot of uphill climbing. More impressive wildflowers on the open slopes. I was really glad when I could see Skyscraper Mt in the distance knowing it was the high point on the trail. Way back to Sunrise was windy and tons of people. We got bacon cheeseburgers at Sunrise cafe, never tasted so good! We talked about the great trip and hoped that Erik ""No Clue"" Bergstrom hadn't gotten into trouble on the East Side trail.

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