Day 5 -- I "Heard" a Bear!

North Puyallup River Camp to South Mowich River Camp
11 miles and 1400 elevation gain.

We got up half hour earlier due to longer miles we'd be hiking today (our longest day yet). North Puyallup wasn't that bad of a camp. I've read a few times to try to avoid staying there but I'd stay there again. There's a group site and maybe another site? on the other side the of the river. Sites 1 - 3 were all in a row on the north side of the river. Great views of the Sunset Amphitheatre from the bridge and good water sources nearby make this an A-OK camp in my book.

We filled up on water and started towards our lunch spot, Golden Lakes. It was a warm and clear day with some great views.

On our way out of camp (obviously, showers and make-up are good friends of mine):


On the way to Golden Lakes:


A view from the top of the ridge. We could see all the way across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountains:



We made it to Golden Lakes at 11:30 and here we are in front of the Patrol Cabin:


If you look closely in the above picture you can see a back country ranger sitting on the porch. We talked to him for a few minutes. He asked if we had seen any bears and if critters had been a problem at any of the camps. He also checked our permit. We asked him about getting water from the lake and he told us that the area right behind the cabin was the least scummy area of the lake. We walked into camp and decided to have lunch in the group campground. We were quickly attacked by the bugs and once again got out the deet which helped but didn't keep the flies off the food. Curt went down and filled up our water from the less scummy part of the lake. I'm not wild about drinking water from any lake that has scum but we managed. We quickly finished lunch to escape the bugs and were on our way.

A short time after leaving Golden Lakes we saw some fresh bear scat on the trail. I told Curt to have his camera ready, just in case. About a mile north of Golden Lakes Curt was walking ahead of us when he came running back to tell us he had just seen a bear. It had been up on a slope above the trail. He stopped to watch it for a minute and take some pictures before running back to get us. We cautiously proceeded and when we got to the area where he had seen the bear it was gone. Curt said that the bear was headed north on the slope which was the same direction as the trial at that point. We continued walking for a few more minutes but there was lots of vegetation that now blocked our views of the above slope. We heard something walking and rustling the bushes not too far above us. I tapped my hiking poles together as we continued walking just to make sure the bear knew we were there and there would be no surprises.

Curt got a good picture of the bear:


I shot this picture not long after seeing the bear and you can see why it was hanging out here:




Soon we began the long decent to the South Mowich River going down (THANK GOODNESS NOT UP!) 32 switchbacks. We only saw one other couple the entire day hiking counterclockwise and it was towards the bottom when we saw them. They were coming from South Mowich Camp and told us that the best place for water for camp would be at the first stream right before the river. All other water was the chocolate milk glacier water. When we got to the stream we filled up with water and then crossed the river and headed into camp. Again, were the first people in camp and chose the site with the shelter, site #1.

Emily was a very good helper the entire trip and would always pitch in with camp chores without being asked. At least 3 times she blew up all 3 mattresses (2 Big Agnes Aircore and one Thermarest Neoair) as well as 3 pillows. This time she decided she was going to set up the tent all by herself. She set it up inside the shelter and no rain fly since it was so warm, rain wasn't likely and we were in a shelter.



Then we made dinner:



After dinner we went back over to the stream where we got the water to fill up with water for the next day and soak our weary feet.

We were now half way done with the hike.

Gear of the Day: Aquafina Bottles


Rather than the classic choice of Nalgene bottles for water containers we brought Aquafina bottles. We started with 5 - 1 liter Aquafina bottles and 1 Nalgene bottle. I promptly lost one of the Aquafina bottles on day one but since there's never a shortage of water on the WLT we decided not to replace it in Longmire. 5 liters was just fine for our group of 3. The reason for chosing the Aquafina bottles over Nalgene is weight. An empty Aqufina bottle only weighs 1.45 oz while an empty Nalgene weights 6.2 oz. That may not seem like a lot but if you normally carry 2 Nalgene bottles and replace them with 2 Aquafinas you just saved yourself half a pound. Aquafina bottles also come with a free bottle of water, what a deal!

Besides the saved weight and the free water, the best part of the Aquafina bottles is how easy it is to use a Steripen with them. With Nalgene bottles you have to either very carefully hold the Steripen just right to make sure the sensors stay submerged or use the filter as a converter piece to convert it to a Steripen friendly bottle. With the Aquafina bottle, the Steripen fits perfectly inside the top with no converter or steady hand needed, just make sure the bottle is filled all the way to the tippy top and no problem.

Curt filling the bottles at the stream next to South Mowich River: