Wonderland Day Three — A Slimy Cool Dip and the End of a Long Day

(South Puyallup River to Golden Lakes.  Per my AllTrails app:  Length: 14.12 miles; Elevation gain: 4,298 ft.; Moving Time: 6:28; Total Time: 9:28)

The Early Bird Gets… a Long Day on the Trail

I slept fitfully, clearly worried about the long day ahead.  The previous evening some guys played something loud that made a variety of weird noises – at least I’m pretty sure it was not coming from some local creature.  Maybe a sasquatch??  It was only 7:30 p.m., but come on, don’t do that in a campground!

My sleep was also disturbed by shoulder pain for the first time in some weeks.  Funny, I felt nothing on the trail, the only pain was while lying motionless in bed.  Determined to start early I checked the Garmin – 3:15 a.m. – okay, maybe not that early!  But when I could see light through my (very transparent) tent I was up – 4:42 a.m.  I was more efficient eating and getting packed, whether through growing experience or determination or both.  However, a side trip to the loo (where my bandana on the sign signalled occupancy), and a walk in the opposite direction to get water, meant I was not actually hiking new ground until 6:22.  Still, this was a big improvement.

First, I had to cross the bridge over the roaring South Puyallup Creek and then it was up and up.

The South Puyallup River from the bridge in the early morning, before the snow melt really gets it going!

Playing Mental Games to Shorten the Climb

I knew this leg had a lot of switchbacks.  Rather than count them on the map, as a mental game I guessed that there were twelve.  This allowed me to count them off and distract myself from the slog of steady uphill hiking.  Imagine my delight when I reached the ridge, feeling solid, at only the ninth switchback!  By then the sun had just risen, providing some great mountain views.  As I walked along the ridge, I came across the first person I had seen all day, going the other way.  He had left North Puyallup and was going to go all the way to Longmire – wow!

There was more snow up there, though mostly in patches until I came to a lake filled with floes of melting snow, St. Andrews Lake.

St Andrews Lake — Pretty cool, right?

Beyond the lake was my lost camp site at Klapatche, but I strode confidently past it, continuing for a couple of miles of slight up-and-down, before a steep drop to the next river canyon.

Talking to Yourself Guarantees an Intelligent Conversation

I imagine this is very common among solo backpackers, but I found I talked to myself all the time, both aloud and inside my head.  For example, while setting up the tent:  “Let’s see, does this pole go in here or in there?”  Who did I expect would answer me?  Or coming around a bend and catching sight of Tahoma in all her glory:  “Oh my, isn’t that amazing!”  Well, of course it was, but I didn’t need to say it.  At least once on this particular day my comment was addressed to something real:  “Hey Mr. Garter Snake, aren’t you a good-looking snake!”  That was after crossing North Puyallup Creek, a gushing stream that was so impressive I took my first video.

Snippet of my North Puyallup River video

I love videos, but I had held off because I was desperately trying to preserve charge on my phone.  Each night I recharged from the little Chinese charge device I had brought, but by then it was down to 50%.  I was sure hoping for a working plug at Mowich Lake!

On the other side of North Puyallup, I resumed my climb.  With a jolt of recognition, I felt I was in familiar terrain.  First the Oregon grape appeared, then the sword ferns, and then the salal bushes.  It seemed like home, as if I were striding through an Olympic Peninsula forest.  Along the way I also enjoyed more of the colorful wildflowers.

My favorite color is purple, so I loved these wildflowers

The path started climbing gently, and then it became steeper, and at noon I stopped for a lunch-and-chemo break beside a lovely mountain stream.  My early start meant I was easily on track to make it to Golden Lake, so I took my time and washed my socks and shirt as well.  (In fact, from this point on, I washed at least the boot liner socks every day.  Having two pairs, and knowing they dried rather quickly, I was assured of “clean” – water rinsed – boot liner socks every day.)

After seeing only one other person all day, here came two, then two more (rangers), and then three – Gita, Polly, and Darcy! — who I had assumed were way ahead of me.  It turned out they had gone down the wrong trail out of Klapatche and had to double back when they realized their mistake.  By then I was ready to move on and so I continued, puffing and panting loudly on the ascent, then speeding up in the flat, and finally arriving at Golden Lakes first.

It’s Not Enough to be First, You Have to be Smart Too!

Unfortunately, I misread the sign and lost my advantage when I thought that Sites 4 and 5 were group sites and not individual sites.  So, I picked Site 3 as the one only slightly farther away from a definitely stinky toilet, even though 4 and 5 were much farther away, and 4 even had a lake view.  Of course Gita, Darcy and Polly ended up getting that one.

I then went to the lake planning to take a swim.  Ugh!  The bottom was covered in mud and I sank in about six inches deep.  Yuck!  Others arrived and we all debated the merits and demerits of deep mud.  Nobody wanted to go first.  Finally Drew overcame his disgust and went swimming out to the island in the middle of the lake.  His courage persuaded most of the rest of us to follow suit.  I went out in my underpants, as the only person lacking shorts or a bathing suit.  It was so refreshing after a long day’s hike and not too cold if you stayed in the upper two feet of the water layer.

My Own Personal Bug Circus

Back in my tent, I found myself looking up at bugs.  The tent itself being transparent (yellow), only the white rainfly supplies me with any privacy.  So, I could see all of the bugs between the fly and the tent as they flew around or landed on the two fabrics.  Night after night it made for a sort of poor man’s circus as I prepared to go to sleep.  On this night, however, a lot of the performers were mosquitos again, forecasting an unpleasant camp break in the morning.  Yet I was filled with a sense of satisfaction. I had completed the first long day of hiking, actually feeling much better than I had the day before – I had done it!