Wonderland…a trail of pain

Sunrise at Sunrise

I’ve had the idea of running the Wonderland trail for a few years, long before I completed my first long distance run. I’ve been on a few sections of this famous trail, mainly back in the day when I was hiking and well before I started getting serious about trail running. Funny side story; my first attempted long, multi-day hike was the Northern loop of the Wonderland. I ended up getting lost or “off route” as I like to put it. Honestly if you’re lost you generally stay that way and although it was quite unpleasant, I did manage to find my way back to the trail after navigating by compass for the better part of a day!

Returning to this adventure…after a full summer of training, several long runs and completing my first almost 25.2 mile, almost marathon length trail run I decided to attempt the Wonderland. For those who aren’t familiar, the Wonderland trail is a loop trail that circumnavigates Mt. Rainier. The complete “official” trail length is 92.2 miles and the total elevation gain is 22,768’. Although I have seen varying estimates for both stats, mainly for the elevation gain. My own results from measuring the trail on a USGS topo map were 82 miles and 21,000’ of elevation gain. It really doesn’t matter though, it’s a long way to travel in one push as it’s a lot of up and down. The only saving grace is that terrain is generally foot friendly. The sections in the forested areas have some of the softest terrain I’ve ever been on, it’s like running on pillows!

Early Morning Light

My initial plan was to begin at Longmire and run the loop clockwise. I had last minute logistics concerns, unfortunately by last minute I mean the night before while trying to get a few hours of sleep. I needed to cache food at two locations; one at Mowich Lake which is approximately 30 miles from Longmire and the other at White River Campground, which nearly 55 miles from the start. White River is also a point at which I could easily exit if need be since it’s near the loop road. My last minute decision was to leave my car here and then try to get a ride to the start at Longmire. If I needed to exit at White River I could hitchhike down to my car at Longmire. My biggest oversight was the caches. It was very time consuming to place the first one and since I started later than planned getting a ride to the start was not realistic considering the time involved. On the drive over to Sunrise/White River I began preparing my alternate plan; I knew the loop was just not going to be an option. I told myself early on that everything needed to be nearly perfect for this attempt. A run of this magnitude has little margin for error, especially when travelling solo. I was disappointed; however I quickly devised an alternate plan since I was still ready and willing to go for a long run. This is after all the Wonderland, an amazing trail that surrounds a beautiful volcano and any adventure here is always a memorable one.

Mt Rainier - Winthrop Glacier and Willis Wall

I arrived at Sunrise at 6:20 and was on the trail at 6:30. My newly devised plan was to run to Mowich Lake and back and possible return via the Northern loop of the Wonderland trail. I estimated this to be 40-50 miles, still a very significant run. The weather was looking good, some low cloud cover which was typical for early mornings around the mountain. It was quite cold however and an upper level, low pressure system was due to arrive on Saturday night. It did appear to be stalling, but still it was a concern. Either way I am glad that I had cold weather gear. Weight is a very big issue on a trip like this and it was critical that I try to keep my pack at four pounds (minus water). This is not easy to achieve, considering the extra gear I needed for the chilly weather. In the end my total pack weight with water was around eight pounds.

I began my run on the “high trail” from Sunrise which has some really nice views. Mount Rainier was occasionally peaking through the clouds, still bathed in the warm colors of the rising sun. I snapped a few photos and began what I thought would be my longest and perhaps most difficult trail run to date. The beginning of the run was fairly uneventful. I’ve been on this stretch of the Wonderland before and run on nearby trails, still it was a beautiful morning. 

Willis Wall (left) and Liberty Ridge (center)

Houston we have a problem! Around five miles in I started to feel pain on the outside of my right knee. I knew instantaneously that it was my IT band (Iliotibial Band Syndrome) sounds scary, although on the list of things that could go wrong; this was not far from the top worst problems I could experience. IT band pain can vary from mildly annoying to extremely painful. My attempts to reduce the pain were mainly unsuccessful, although stretching did help prevent it from becoming more severe. I really didn’t want to stop running and the masochist in me told me to keep going, although I was sure that heading all the way to Mowich Lake would be a bad idea. I kept pushing on, playing the usual mind games that are involved with controlling pain. About ten miles in I knew that I would not make it much further than the Carbon Glacier, which was around 11-12 miles from where I began.

The trail home

I came really close to my new goal and I made it to a clearing that allowed me a view of the Carbon Glacier. Turning around is never easy for me, even when I am pain, still I began to think of the painful trip back and realized that it would be worse if I kept going. I wanted to keep a decent pace on the return trip, fortunately I had a lot of uphill travel on the return, this is actually better for my IT Band issue. It’s one of the rare times when I was happy to be going up instead of down! The return trip went as well as expected and I took several short breaks to rest and stretch to help alleviate the pain. It was very difficult to not be able to run on the back since there were so many nice stretches of trail. When I reached Frozen Lake, a mere 1.5 miles from my car I decided to tolerate the pain and run. It felt better than expected, however I was overjoyed when I finally saw the buildings at Sunrise. A few moments later my journey of pain ended.

On the drive home I was already planning my next big run, although it won’t be the full Wonderland loop this year. If I can commit the time to training I may attempt it again next year, although this time with better planning and hopefully no bodily malfunctions!

Quick stats for this route:

TIME: 8.7 hours
DISTANCE: 22 miles (map)
GAIN:  6970 (Suunto)
WEATHER: Mostly clear, cold with some wind.

Number of…

Mile in pain: 17

Spills: 0

Sprained ankles: 0 (another really close call)
Blisters: 0 (thanks again Injinji!)
Hikers carrying heavy packs:  12+

Calories consumed: 2360 (including pre-run food)
Liters of water: 4.5

Eldorado Peak, East Ridge - 8/14/10. Third times a charm.

I first attempted to solo the East Ridge of Eldorado peak, via Sibley Creek in August of 2009. Although my first attempt was not successful, I gained valuable information about the approach which would prove to be key on this trip. My second attempt was only a couple of weeks after the first. I didn't get very far due to the rapidly deteriorating weather. The forecast was for sun and highs in the 60's, go figure. I was not surprised though, this is the Cascades and I am accustomed to the changing weather and less than reliable forecasts.

This route proved to be the challenge I had hoped for since it contained all the elements that make for an interesting solo, one day adventure. One of the greatest challenges on these types of trips is making good time, speed is safety in the mountains and this is especially true when travelling solo. Since I usually never have a chance to "pre-run" the approach, route finding is crucial to saving precious hours of daylight. 

Mt. Baker in the distance (upper left)

It is summer and here in Washington the days are quite long. Having the extra time is a nice luxury, but it's not necessarily something that can be abused since there are only so many good hours to travel on snow fields and glaciers. For me that means getting very early and this trip was no exception. I hit the road at the "ugly early" hour of 2 am and arrived at the trailhead around 4:30 am. Less than three hours later I was travelling on the Inspiration glacier and the conditions were the best I've ever seen for this time of year.  The high temps were supposed to be 85 degrees (in Seattle) on this day. I was a bit concerned about the heat and I had visions of wading through deep, slushy late season snow. I was pleasantly surprised and rewarded with excellent snow conditions all the way to the summit.

Mt. Baker

I really enjoy the mental challenge on trips like this one, there are so many unknowns and on this route/climb there were several. My biggest concerns were the heat and snow conditions on the exposed, not quite "knife edge" ridge. I was not as concerned about the approach since I had done the majority of the most difficult parts already. In the end each concern was addressed and overcome. Sometimes what you think will be the biggest challenge turns out to be a non-event. On this route it was the exposed summit ridge. I was fortunate to have near perfect conditions so this challenge proved to be quite enjoyable. 

view from the ridge, looking South

In the end on I looked back on this trip and was pleased that it went so well. It really is the full North Cascades experience with steep, exposed trails on a ridge covered with blooming wildflowers, steep rock spires, snow fields, huge glaciers and 360 degree views of the nearby mountain ranges and volcanoes. An end of the trip bonus was a black bear perched on a high meadow, probably dining on ripe blueberries.

It's unfortunate that I didn't have a camera on this trip. The posted photos are from my first attempt.

Quick stats for this route:

TIME: 6:00
DISTANCE: 13 miles
GAIN:  6042' (Suunto)
WEATHER: Blue skies (warm)

Number of…

Wildflower species: 10 (an estimate while I was running along the ridge)

Mosquito bites: 0 (no bugs!)
Climbers on Route: 5-7 (NOLS group that I passed on the way out)
Sunburned areas: 1 (forgot my chin!)
Spills: 1 (slipped on rock and got a nasty bruise and cuts on my calf)
Calories consumed: 2000+ (including pre-run food)
Liters of water: 4+ (plenty)

Enchantments Loop, almost a marathon trail run-a-hike

Snow Creek Wall

I recently decided to attempt a run into the Enchantment Lakes basin. My last trip was a three day hike in September of 2005. Times have changed and so has my preferred method of travel into the backcountry. On my last visit I donned my old Raichle leather boots. If you’re old enough you might remember these kinds of boots. They had stitched on soles, weighed about two pounds each, took over a year to break in and you still ended up with blisters after only a few miles of travel! It’s so nice those days are over and these days I am running, more often than not and with modern, light trail running shoes.

This trip was what I would call semi "off the couch". The reason being is that I didn't train by attempting any long runs beforehand and I rarely trail run more than 4-6 miles per week. I am sure my time would have been better if I had trained, but alas a quick pace is never the goal for me. I seek out fun, challenging and mentally committing routes and this one fit the bill perfectly.

I originally decided to leave my car at the end of the dirt road section to avoid having to run on pavement at the finish and to allow a nice four mile warm up in the morning. As I passed by the Snow Creek trailhead I felt anxious to start running on nice soft trails so I quickly turned around and decided to start my run, it was 6:30 am. The beginning of the run went as expected, having done the approach to Snow Creek wall more than a dozen times I knew the this part of the trail intimately. The section towards Nada Lake was quite good. I broke up this part by running for about 1/2 mile, then fast walking insuring that my lungs got an adequate warm up. I passed many hikers camped along the way, many right off of the trail. It was still early and although some appeared to be awake, possibly preparing breakfast. They hardly noticed me running by...just a quick flash and I was a distance memory.

Nada Lake

Leaving Nada Lake the trail climbs moderately to the Snow Lakes. Now if you've yet to head to the Enchantments you will be surprised to first hear and then see the giant horizontal waterfall in the distance. It's quite an unusually feature to find out in the backcountry. Apparently it's some sort of water control as you eventually pass by a dam between the lower and upper Snow Lakes. You have to wonder, do the fish come flying out of that huge gusher? If so they would end up landing on the rocks below, ouch! Well I digress...back to the run. The upper Snow Lake run is very pleasant, if not a bit root strewn. It's a nice break before the impending "wall". It’s been aptly named by weary hikers who trudge up nearly 1400 feet in 1.25 miles. It's really only tough for the last 500' feet which is very steep terrain with a bit of scrambling on granite slabs. Some sections even have man-made foot holds, but I won’t comment about them in this story.


My progress was quite good from upper Snow Lake to Lake Viviane, which is the first lake you reach in the lower Enchantment basin. My reward here was an onslaught of mosquitoes. They wanted my blood in a bad way! This is the one thing I did not prepare for and honestly I knew I wouldn't be stopping many times so it didn't seem like an issue. That being said I really wanted at least a five minute break here since I hadn't stopped since I left the start at Snow Creek. As luck would have it, I met two early morning hikers who just happen to have some bug juice. It was DEET based, but the bugs were so bad I didn't care. The guy even applied it for me, a very thoughtful and much appreciated service!

Beginning of Lower Enchantment Basin

Soon after my bug infested break at Lake Viviane I realized a couple of things; I wasn't drinking enough and I wasn't eating enough. I recover slowly from bonking (hypoglycemia) so this was not a good sign. I already covered more than 1/3 of loop and ascended 90% of the elevation. At the time my lack of hydration and calorie consumption didn't really sink in, that is not until about a mile later when I hit the wall. Fortunately the upper basin is fairly easy travel. It was cloudy, humid and windy in spots and my reduced speed forced me to wear my windbreaker which slowed my pace considerably. I took my longest break around the half way point between Lake Viviane to Aasgard Pass. The distance is around 3.8 miles with roughly 1000 feet of altitude gain. I should have and very much wanted to run this whole section. The good news is that I recovered quickly and spent the rest of the way to Aasgard pass hydrating and eventually running for several long stretches. Just before reaching Aasgard pass a low flying helicopter buzzed by me and two young guys that were also doing the loop. The helicopter flew a couple of passes then landed on a nearby flat section above us. We later learned this was a recovery flight for a hiker who fell down a waterfall while descending the "wrong side" of Aasgard Pass.

After removing my jacket and wishing the two guys a safe journey I headed down the steep trail leading to Colchuck Lake. The descent to the lake is impressive considering that you drop 2251 feet in just over one mile! The upper and middle sections are scree and slab, while the lower section features larger Talus boulders. Ascending from Colchuck Lake to Aasgard pass is brutal; I can't understand why anyone would want to do it. That being said, descending can be quite dangerous, especially for those with the burden of heavily laden packs.

The descent from Aasgard Pass to Colchuck Lake and then down the Mountaineer Creek trail was mostly uneventful. I was basically on auto pilot, stopping only once to remove my scree gaiters and to put on my iPod. With music blaring and energized legs, I opened it up all the way to the parking lot at the end of Eighmile Creek road. The parking lot was packed with cars and those involved with the recovery of the hiker who died. Without pause, I corrected my pace for my 3.8 mile descent to Icicle Creek road. I stopped only once to fill my Camelbak and to cool my feet off in the icy waters of Eightmile Creek. The remaining run down the road went well. I was able to set a nice quick pace and it was a nice mental change from having to negotiate nearly 17 miles of considerably rough terrain. It was still cloudy and not soon after I began the descent it began to shower. Luckily it was just enough to keep me cool and to help keep the dust from getting in my face when the occasional car passed me. It really felt good that I didn't for one moment wish I was driving back to Icicle Creek road; this was another one of the highlights of the trip.

View of Aasgard Pass from Colchuck Lake 

The last leg: Icicle Creek road. I was nearing the finish and it felt great, however there was a bit of a reality check as I hit the pavement. I knew from the very beginning when I decided to attempt this loop that the remaining four mile section back to my car would be agonizing. The whole time I reserved the right to hitchhike back my car and honestly after the first mile I really wanted to, however soon after I realized this section was the mental "crux" of the trip for me. Those who run on pavement might not be able to relate, but to me there is nothing more painful, at least during exercise. My feet are not exactly normal. I've had bunion surgery and I have hammer toes and my big toes point in the wrong direction! As I tell most people, I have "freak feet". That being said they could be worse and having traveled over 25 miles they were kind enough to carry me without incident and without too much pain all the way back to my car.

Quick stats for this run…

TIME: 9:15
DISTANCE: 25.25 miles
GAIN: 7273' (map), 7080' (Suunto)
TRAIL CONDITIONS: Mostly dry, except for several short snow sections in the basin
WEATHER: Mostly cloudy with a few filtered sun breaks and a few brief showers
TEMPS: 58 (start), 74 (finish)

Number of…

Mosquito bites: 12+
Pee crazed mountain goats: 1
Annoying hikers: 10+ (all near the Eightmile TH)
Friendly hikers: 15+
Sprained ankles: 0 (one really close call)
Blisters: 0 (thanks to Injinji)
Sore days post run: 3
Wipe-outs: 1 (from tripping on a wooden peg that was not a natural feature!)
Calories: 1970 (including pre-run food)
Liters of water: 5 (not quite enough)

I thought I would never go there, well here that is...

My first post, chock full o' nothing.