Redid a little section of the wonderland that was socked in on my 2019 wonderland thru-hike, mowich lake to golden lakes
The South Mowich river bridge is out and the crossing is pretty difficult, the water is running fast and deep. I saw several groups that tried to cross soon after me who weren’t able to make it, and had to camp by the river and wait for the water level to go down overnight before attempting again the following morning.
I crossed twice- once at about noon and again at about 9am on the way back. The water was slightly lower at the 9am crossing. I used the wire that goes across the river by the old bridge to cross the first time, and the second time I crossed on a fallen log and then through several broken up braids of the river slightly upstream from the bridge. I felt that the wire was secure but apparently rangers are recommending not to use it because it’s user made. They are instead recommending a .5 mile detour (.25 miles each way) to where the river is slightly lower… but apparently still wasn’t low enough for some groups to make it, and I heard others say it wasn’t much better up there anyway.
Lots of bear scat in and around my camp and one bear siting in the morning at golden lakes. The outhouse is in pretty rough shape from heavy use- the flies were swarming inside and almost made me wish it was just open air. There was a large group of people hanging out and swimming by golden lakes most of the afternoon who were slightly loud... Yes, I could hear you say that “I hope the guy fishing across the lake doesn’t murder me tonight in my sleep.” 🧐 The lake was very buggy, biting flies, horseflies and mosquitoes everywhere, but they didn’t bother me too much. They seemed worse in the morning. Beautiful views of the mountain from my little fishing spot at the northwest corner of the lake that the social group missed out on, and could hear little avalanches from the mountain all afternoon.
Returned to a flat tire at the trail head! still a great trip.
Comments