Thursday, August 6th, 2026 - While the rest of Washington was shrouded in smoke, a pocket of clean air emerged as we made our way up to Sunrise. Winning permits for the Wonderland Trail already had us feeling pretty good, but the mountain was ready to dazzle for us. Our plan was to make it from Sunrise to Cataract Valley Camp for two nights (with some day hiking on Friday), head back toward Sunrise with one night at Granite Creek campground and then get back to Sunrise on Sunday. Our annual backpacking trip was underway for less than five minutes before we spotted our first black bear just above Sunrise Lodge on the way to Frozen Lake. Past the halfway point for our first day, we stopped for lunch at Mystic Lake where a massive elk with an insanely large set of antlers came out of the woods and danced across the lake for us.
The trail work was amazing, and with the exception of some rock and log hopping on the Winthrop Creek, everything was top notch on the Wonderland (nice work Ranger Montgomery). When we arrived at the Carbon River suspension bridge, we were pretty gassed and questioning why we hadn't kept our permit for Carbon River Camp that night. C'est la vie! We had another 1.7 miles of tough uphill ahead, and we all split apart and went at our own paces (which was none too fast). After roughly 16 miles and some leg cramping towards the end, we made it to Cataract Valley Camp and feasted for the night.
Friday, August 7th: We had a leisurely morning with some veggie chorizo hash on tortillas and coffee. Reloaded the water and took our day packs up to Spray Park. The climbing starts immediately out of camp and it goes on for a few miles. The area is teeming with waterfalls and meadows and is one of the most scenic places my eyes have been blessed to see. As you continue to climb, you enter the moonscape that is the alpine area closer to Rainier. We even had one snowfield left to cross; although, I suspect it may not last the rest of the summer. As we started to make our way down into Spray Park, the views got even more impressive and then...
BEARS! Nine of them in 15 minutes. On the trail, off the trail, moms and cubs, giant brown furs, sleek black furs, berry hunting all over the place. Not one bear even seemed to notice us, but it certainly took us a bit to get comfortable with the sheer number and proximity of them. We got comfy enough to pull out our camping chairs and have a bite to eat while staring back at Mount Rainier while bears milled around behind us some few hundred yards. It was getting pretty hot, so we decided to head back up and over the saddle to our base camp at Cataract Valley Camp. That was when we noticed the first sign that our out and back trip was about to pivot.
A large pyroclastic looking cloud of smoke that had not been there earlier in the day was seen just south of Sunrise based on our way finding. My new iPhone 17 had satellite texting as a feature, so I did the responsible thing and texted my wife about what she knew of the fire. From there, it was back down to camp and wait and see until we had more information. We went to bed knowing the fire was likely far off, and we would not get instructions on which way to travel until the morning. We were instructed (via Ranger to my wife and her text to us) to ration food in case we had to add extra days to our trip to get out the other direction on the Wonderland.
Saturday, August 8, 2026: We woke up with confirmation that Sunrise was indeed closed and evacuated due to what was now called the Grand Park fire. The instruction was to head to Mowich Lake and await further word or a possible shuttle out from there. We made our way back up and through Spray Park (this time with our full packs). We said hello to many of our bear friends again, but only stopped as we collected unwitting hikers heading in the direction of the fire. They were none to pleased to be told of the trail closure, which up until then we had only heard secondhand. We would find out later that the ranger at Mystic Lake was sending everyone back our way, and the trail crew working the Carbon River Camp area was also sending people back, so we did save people a day or two food and hassle. Nevertheless, it was not fun news to share.
Our first sign of any official closure was near Mowich Lake where a sign confirmed that the Wonderland Trail was closed from Carbon River Camp to Summerland, and that Sunrise was in fact closed. We were the first people at Mowich Lake, but people started coming in from all angles. All were seeking information on what the plan was. Many were frustrated, but understood that fire is nothing with which to mess around. Ranger Jim was the first official we interacted with when he showed up at 3 p.m. (about three hours after we had gotten to Mowich). Let's just say that guy should be on a tv show. He was a trip. He was driving people out on the since closed Mowich Lake Road to the Town of Wilkeson. We decided to let two couples go first even though we had been waiting the longest, but the idea of being in the truck with Ranger Jim for an hour was a bit too harsh a return to civilization. Apologies. Ranger James (?) Montgomery arrived a while later with an 11-person van, and we took that ride into Wilkeson.
Our amazing friend who lives in Tacoma had gotten the news of where we would be, and he came and picked us up as well as another stray and drove us back to the White River Wilderness Center in hopes they would allow us to retrieve our cars up at Sunrise. They said if we got in and out quickly, we could head up. Such a relief to get our cars (now with signs that read "Exacuate Immediately Wildlfires in Area" (misspelling of evacuate included).
We treated our friend and ourselves to a wonderful Mexican feast in Enumclaw before heading to the Issaquah Regal for a 10:15 p.m. showing of The Odyssey. Was in my own bed by 2:30 a.m. Sunday a.m.
Won't forget that one. All told 31.1 miles with 10k' up.
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