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Steve Bloomfield | profile | all galleries >> Hiking the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier Washington - Sept 2005 >> Day 5: Golden Lakes to S. Puyallup River tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Day 1: White River to Granite Creek | Day 2: Granite Creek to Carbon River | Day 3: Carbon River to Mowich Lake | Day 4: Mowich Lake to Golden Lakes | Day 5: Golden Lakes to S. Puyallup River | Day 6: S. Puyallup to Devil's Dream | Day 7: Devil's Dream to Longmire | Day 8: Longmire to Maple Creek | Day 9: Maple Creek to Indian Bar | Day 10: Indian Bar to White River

Day 5: Golden Lakes to S. Puyallup River

Once again, we awoke to the unhappy sound of rain on the tent. Unlike yesterday morning, however, it didn't subside so packing up took longer than usual. We were on the trail by 8:45 in a light sprinkle. First a little uphill to get us warmed up, then down, down, down to the North Puyallup River where it began to rain harder. We had a semi-pleasant lunch sitting on a stone wall under the shelter of some trees before starting a fairly steep uphill to our original goal for the day, Klapatche camp. We made decent time (who wants to stop for breaks in the rain?) and got to a totally clouded in Klapatche by 2:45. We discussed our options - should we stay as planned and have a long, hard day tomorrow to Devils Dream in unknown weather conditions? Or push on to South Puyallup camp so that we can hike all the way out to Longmire the next day if it continues to rain? We chose option B and continued on. A little more uphill, then it was all down to S. Puyallup camp. We took the group site so as not to take a site away from anyone with a permit, but it wasn't necessary - the camp didn't fill. One interesting thing about this camp was it's proximity to a very interesting rock formation known as Devil's Organ Pipe. It was still raining, so we ate a cold dinner and went to bed early, hoping for better weather tomorrow.
Taking a break
Taking a break
Not much of a view
Not much of a view
Low clouds and rain today
Low clouds and rain today
Near Klapatche Park
Near Klapatche Park
Crossing small stream
Crossing small stream
Large blow down along trail
Large blow down along trail
Devil's Organ Pipe (next to S. Puyallup Camp)
Devil's Organ Pipe (next to S. Puyallup Camp)
Another view of Devil's Organ Pipe
Another view of Devil's Organ Pipe
Elevation Profile Day 5 (Actual Miles 11.2)
Elevation Profile Day 5 (Actual Miles 11.2)