Day 10 - I Survivied Panhandle Gap!

Summerland Camp to Box Canyon

13 Miles / 1600 Elevation Gain

We were up and out of camp by 8:00. At 13 miles it would be our longest hiking day of the entire trip. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and Rainier out in all her glory:


I could really get used to that view even if it meant no flush toilets and floaties in my water. By this point of the trip, I had gotten over my floaties in the water issue but pit toilets will forever and always be an 'only as a last resort option'.

On the way out of camp we stopped to get a picture of the very cool shelter at the group site there:



And then one more crossing of the stream in Summerland. My camera battery was 99% gone at this point. I didn't see any need of saving the battery so I took it out and started shooting until it died for good. A shot of the stream in the Summerland Meadow with the moon just above Rainier:


Once again there was a lot of frost. As we started hiking there were a few slick spots on the trail and a log bridge crossing. I suppose this got us ready for things to come. We arrived at beautiful lake which I can't seem to find on any of my maps. Does it have a name? If anyone out there knows the name of the lake just below Panhandle Gap please let me know so I can insert it here.

Emily at unnamed lake:


It was then time for the snow fields. Fortunately, it started with baby steps. A small snow field where slipping didn't mean certain death:



Views as we climbed up to Panhandle Gap with the moon still above Rainier:


Last picture before my camera died for good:


So now it was just about time. Time to conquer my fear of crossing frozen, icy snow on a steep slope wearing only trail runners. I prayed that a pair of Yak Trax would magically appear on the side of the trail but they didn't. I was fairly certain that this was the end for me but at least I got to hike 90% of the Wonderland Trail first.

Approaching Panhandle Gap:


Curt, of course, didn't give it a second thought and just walked across like a normal person would.

Emily and I both shortened our uphill poles which helped a lot. I told Emily to go ahead and start and think of a happy place as she crossed. She immediately started to repeat, verbatim, the spiel from Tower of Terror at Disneyland. When she got to the part where it said something like "Wave goodbye to the real world" I told her that was enough.

It was still early in the day and the snow had frozen the night before. The track was hard and icy. I realized if you just take it really slowly and use the already present boot tracks it was just fine. I made it about 3/4 of the way when a lady with two young boys showed up on the other side right where I was headed. Curt told her I was still up there thinking she would hold off until I safely made it across. They continued anyway heading straight for me. There was no way I was moving off that boot track so I just kept going. They just walked up on the slope above me and passed me. I finally made it to the other side and I knew at that was the last major obstacle and I would soon be completing the Wonderland Trail.

I probably made too big of a deal about this crossing. Most Wonderland Trail hikers don't give it a second thought. Normally, when we plan day hikes or backpacking trips I avoid these type of conditions. When I found out the WLT would most likely have a "scary" snowfield to cross I knew I'd have to overcome my fear to reach the goal.

As soon as we crossed the gap the conditions immediately changed to extremely foggy with maybe 100 feet of visibility. We never saw the sun or the mountain the rest of the day.I recalled the conversation we had with a counter clockwise hiker a few days earlier. This was his third time hiking the WLT and the day he was in this area it was so foggy he got lost.

Hiking conditions after passing Panhandle Gap:


There were more snowfields to cross too. I remember at one point looking uphill (to my right) and seeing a big steep snowfield. I thought I was so glad we didn't have to cross that area. A few minutes later the trail turned to the right and uphill and before I knew it were were crossing "that" snowfield.

After the snowfields ended the steps started. For the day our elevation gain was about 1600 feet but the loss was 4000 feet. I never really pay attention to elevation loss because I don't mind downhill. As long as my toenails are trimmed I consider downhill my hiking BFF. Downhill let me down (no pun intended) this day. About 2 miles from Indian Bar the stairs started and they really didn't stop until we reached Indian Bar. Can you imagine going down stairs for 2 miles? I was just glad we weren't going UP them. (Note: It's now 3 weeks later as I write this and I've decided I must to the WLT again but counter clockwise this time just so I can go UP those steps to prove I can!)

About a mile outside of Indian Bar the fog lifted a little though it was still cloudy and we could see the shelter down below. We arrived at the shelter at 11:30 and stopped for lunch at the Wonderland Hilton:


Another beautiful spot and next time I'll make sure we stay here in Indian Bar.

While we were eating lunch a guy came in who had also stayed at Summerland the previous night. He was hiking the trail in 5 days with a 75 pound pack. He was a small guy too. Let's just say that with his 75 pound pack on I probably still weighed more than he did. He was a photographer and took the above picture for us.

After lunch we started the final leg. There were supposed to be great views in this section but we didn't have any. Honestly, the only views in my head at this point were those of a hot shower and a bed. The meadows were still in bloom though and very lovely. There's really not much else to say about this section. Downhill started to get the best of me and my knee started to really bother me.

As we approached Box Canyon we could hear cars zooming by. Soon we could see people at the Box Canyon overlooks. We saw people walking on on a little trail which was shared with the WLT over to another Box Canyon lookout. We continued on the trail up and over the tunnel and a few minutes later there was the spur trail. In 200 feet it would be finished. We all walked across the "finish line" together. There was our car, right where we had left it 10 days earlier. The car was in the lesser used Box Canyon parking lot and I hoped there would be someone there to take a picture. The second we completed the trail a car pulled into the parking lot. We asked them to take a picture and here we are just a minute after finishing:


It was an adventure of a lifetime. If you had asked me right after finishing if I would ever consider doing it again the answer would have been a resounding, "NO WAY!" It was hard but regardless of my 19 months of preparation and training I still could have been in better shape. I think it's a lot like childbirth, as soon as that new baby is placed in your arms you almost immediately forget about the hours of agonizing pain you just suffered. Now, just 3 weeks later I'm already planning the next itinerary out in my head. This time counterclockwise in maybe 11 or 12 days.

The first question friends and family ask me is, "Was it harder than as you thought it was going to be?" My answer is, "No, it was just about as difficult as I thought it would be. If it were any more difficult than I imagined I would have never made it."

Yes, I think I must do it again. I will never be one of those trail runners who completes it in 3 days. I just can't fathom that. My body is not capable but that's OK. I can do it in 11 or 12 or so days and enjoy all the beautiful sights this trail has to offer.

We got in the car and headed home. We stopped at the White Pass gas station to get ice cream.I looked across the highway to the ski resort where I spent many winter Saturdays during my teen years skiing the slopes. White Pass has just expanded (almost doubled) their area and I mentioned to Curt how much I'd like to go skiing again. I've only been twice in the past 20 years. I completed my sentence with, "If I could only get in shape." I stopped and listened to myself... "If I could only get in shape?" I just hiked the Wonderland Trail. I must be in some sort of shape, I'm going to have to stop using that excuse.

I am just a 41 year old Mom of 4 but one thing I learned in my journey of preparing for and hiking the Wonderland Trail is that I am much more capable than I think, maybe even more capable than I want to be. It's been a long time since I set a goal for myself of any type at all. I think a lot of Moms have kids and get lost in raising those kids to the best of their ability. I guess that's a goal in and of itself and that's what we should do. There's something to be said though about how your spirit soars when you set personal goal, work hard and reach it.

Regardless of our age or circumstances we all need to keep growing and developing too. We had a little game we played on the trail. When hiking the Wonderland Trail 99.9% of the time you are either going uphill or downhill. Whenever we got to a portion where we were neither going up nor down we'd yell out, "Flat Trail" In life, you better not hope for too much "Flat Trail", you don't want to just stay status quo. Flat Trail might be the comfortable place to be but the truth is you are either progressing or regressing. We must be always working hard to become better, to be our best. If we don't, we'll be hanging out quite a bit on the flat trail and one thing is for sure, the best views on the Wonderland Trail were never from flat trail.