Klapatche Park, Mowich River & Sunset Park and Golden Lakes — Saturday, Jul. 14, 2018

I hiked from Mowich Lake to South Puyallup camp, then down a side trail to Westside Road to my car as part of my efforts to section-hike the Wonderland Trail. 

Logistics: My partner and I spent the night at Mowich before setting off from there around 5:40am the next morning. I asked that he hike the first four miles with me, until the "hazardous" South Mowich River crossing before going back to move the car to Westside Road. The ranger I called earlier in the week said the crossing was doable but to hike about 200 yards upstream. I hiked probably even further upstream than that, following some cairns, to where it looked "safer" to cross. The thing about the crossing is that it's not just one river -- the way the river bed spreads, you're likely to make 5-6 crossings of about 10 feet apiece. Most of the crossings were about ankle-height, though one was knee-level. The water was freezing. I am certain that I could've crossed the river on my own, but I'm not sure I would've as I get scared and it certainly looks intimidating. So it is doable but be careful. 

After that, smooth sailing on the Wonderland Trail. (Another thing to note: There seems to be no running water after the South Mowich River for probably five miles or so?)The entire time along the Wonderland, my pace was about 2 miles/hour. By the time I got to the incline around Klapatche, I was very tired. I didn't get a good glimpse of Mount Rainier until around Golden Lakes (yes, more than five hours into the hike) -- that's when the scenery gets very pretty. Tons of wildflowers, open spaces. St. Andrews Lake was my favorite part of this section and perfect for a dip. 

Trail conditions: I counted about 23 downed trees on the trail, mostly between Mowich Lake camp and Golden Lakes, but none were difficult to go over or under. There were a few snow patches around the Klapatche area but so minor, it's hardly worth mentioning. You shouldn't need to do any route-finding anywhere in this section. 

When I got to South Puyallup camp and took the side trail to Westside Road, I was completely beat. Luckily, my partner had stashed a bike at Westside and we cruised all the way down to the car.
Total mileage for the day: 25.6 (23.4 of that on Wonderland), according to my Greentrails maps