15.5-miles/3000-feet elevation gain. So happy to see the Rainier summit whitewashed in a fresh coat of paint.
The Wonderland Trail is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Today I encountered two new show-stoppers:the log footbridge over the Nisqually River at Cougar Rock washed out a few days ago (at least I wasn't on it at the time!). This prohibits access along the WT/Carter Falls trail heading east. I pivoted my plan and back-tracked the WT to the Ramparts, heading north towards Pyramid Creek Camp, but...the WT disappeared into Kautz Creek about half a mile south of PCC. Later in the day I met some hikers that showed me on their map App where the WT had been significantly rerouted to cross the creek further upstream. I found no cairns or trail indicators and so turned around, reengaging the Rampart Ridge trail for a fun, fast 5K descent back to Longmire. Still hungry for more and harboring FOMO from impending snowfall at lower elevations, I crossed the Nisqually Suspension Bridge and did a loop around the Longmire Campground - wonderfully deserted and serene this time of year. Intersected the Eagle Peak trail and started the arduous ascent to see if my App was correctly showing snow depth. Only went up about a quarter mile before I met the hikers coming down from the peak. They confirmed encountering about 2-3" of snow cover at the top of Eagle Peak. By then I had logged 14-miles and 3000-feet elevation gain and fatigue was making me hangry so I turned and headed back to Longmire.
In addition to the Wonderland Trail dead ends I encountered we have the indefinite closure of the Fairfax Bridge, which significantly impacts logistics associated with the Wonderland Trail in the NW corner of the park. What's next?! Todays trail time provided perspective and confirmation on why it's so important to chase goals and passions - now. "One of these days I'll do it" is just unpredictable false hope. I'm grateful that six years ago I took advantage of an opportunity to circumnavigate Mount Rainier by running the 93-mile Wonderland Trail with a group. Life changing.
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