Pre Trip

In March of 2010, I eagerly filled out two reservation requests for the Wonderland Trail and got them faxed in the first day lines opened. Request #1 was for a 10 day trip leaving July 31st. Request #2 was also for 10 days but leaving August 20th. I really, really, really hoped we'd get request #1. Dates for Request #1 would fall right in the prime time of wild flower season. Mt. Rainier is known for having the best alpine flower meadows on the planet. Unfortunately, getting permits to hike the trail is rather competitive and although I got the requests in on the first day I still wasn't chosen (I think it works like a lotto) for request #1.

We did get our exact requested itinerary for August 20 - 29th though. Curt was happy as this time period is during berry season and he does love the berries. I was very disappointed to be missing out on the flowers.

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 Box Canyon to Paradise River
Day 2 Paradise River Camp to Pyramid
Day 3 Pyramid Creek to South Puyallup
Day 4 South Puyallup to North Puyallup
Day 5 North Puyallup to South Mowich
Day 6 South Mowich to Ipsut Creek
Day 7 Ipsut Creek to Mystic Lake
Day 8 Mystic Lake to Sunrise Camp
Day 9 Sunrise Camp to Summerland
Day 10 Summerland to Box Canyon

In April, my a new issue of Backpacker Magazine arrived in the mail. Guess which hike readers voted should be at the top of each backpackers life list? Washington's Wonderland Trail

I continued strength training and cardio workouts through the summer (9 workouts / week). The last 4 weeks included a daily 4 mile walk on very hilly terrain with probably 600 feet elevation gain while wearing my backpack weighted down with 25 pounds of books.

Also, during the summer it became apparent that the late snows which resulted in snow levels on Mt. Rainier to be 170% above normal at the end of June were going to result in flower show being postponed 2 - 4 weeks this year. Perfect for our itinerary!

At the beginning of August, I pulled out my Freezer Bag Cooking cookbook
and started making menus. We'd have to prepare food for 10 days for 3 people with varying tastes. This book gave us lots of options to make our own meals suited to our tastes. The best part of cooking this way is no dirty pots in the back country. All you have to do is boil water and pour in the freezer bag with the ingredients. After a few minutes in a cozy dinner is ready. That's my kind of cooking, especially in the back country.

Here's the menu (we did have a few Mountain House Meals on hand which made their way into the rotation):

Day 1 -

L sandwiches, chips fruit

D potato soup, fruit, hostess pies

Day 2 -

B Oatmeal

L @ Longmire (we'd be passing through Longmire around lunch time so we just ate lunch there)

D- salmon chowder for Jamie, teriyaki chicken w/ rice for Curt and Emily


Day 3

B - Morning potatoes
L - peanut butter and honey honey on bagels
D- potatoes and cheese with broccoli for Jamie and Emily, curried Thai chicken and rice for Curt


Day 4

B- breakfast rice
L- chicken tomato wraps
D- thanksgiving on trail, apple pie pudding

Day 5

B- coconut berry oatmeal
L- rice and bean burritos
D- chicken carbonara for Jamie and Curt/ Taters ham and cheese for Emily

Day 6
B- breakfast potatoes
L- south western chicken wraps
D- chili / piggy pie pudding

Day 7
B-breakfast rice
L- peanut butter and honey on bagels
D- bacon and potato chowder/ FD ice cream

Day 8
B-oatmeal
L- tuna wraps
D- out (ate dinner at Sunrise cafeteria)

Day 9
B- Breakfast potatoes
L- rice and bean burritos
D- thanksgiving on trail , fruit pies

Day 10
B- breakfast rice
L- chicken wrap

We had no food issues during the hike. We didn't really have any extra food so I'd say we had just the right amount of food. The practice backpack trips really paid off with being able to estimate food intake on a multi-day hike.

Here's the picture of the food all ready to go in caches:

On August 19th, I packed up all the food into caches to be dropped off at Longmire, Sunrise and Mowich. My good friend Cheryl came along and it took us 12 hours to drive around and drop off the caches. It was a beautiful day and Tahoma was out for great views all day:






We picked up the permit:


It was time to go home and sleep in a bed and shower for the last time in 10 days.

The packs were ready to go. Emily's weighed in at 10 pounds, mine was 25 and Curt's was 37 but we only had one days worth of food so once we stocked up in Longmire I'm sure his was pushing 50.


Seeing the packs lined up I started doubting myself. What had I gotten myself into? Sure, the planning was fun but now it was time to get moving. I had only lost 25 of the 50 pounds. The most I had ever hiked in a single backpacking day was 7 miles with 1700 feet elevation gain. Would I be ready for 93 miles and 23,000 feet elevation gain? What are my bailout points? Where I can quit if it's just too much? What if I can't do this?