Steps in the Right Direction: Mystic Lake Campsite to Granite Creek

PEak 5863
Ascent 1371
Decent 1007
4.4 miles
Left Camp at 10 am and arrived at 2:30 Short day!

We went to sleep last night with very heavy mist/rain starting. During the night there was a long sustained rumble of ice falling from the nearby glacier. One, in particular, was thoroughly discussed at breakfast. We all commented on our thought process of how we all were laying there wondering...glacier or thunder... Morning brings heavy skies, but it is not raining yet. We pack up in a state of wet, but not dripping.

Our hike today takes us past Winthrop Glacier and the devastation from more damage from the 2006 flood. The photos do not really show the massiveness of the path the melted waters made down through the valley. Some of the trail is a bit sketchy, but we have become accustomed to the sketchiness.

Today there is a waterfall called Garda Falls. It has a fall of around 200 feet. It must have been in the clouds. Not one of the people with cameras has a photo of the falls. It must be hiding like Mount Rainier.

Lunch today is pita bread with hummus. Gross! Kathi and I don't do hummus, so we had pita bread with jam and almond butter...Strike that-almond butter is gone. Pita bread with jelly. We also had to share a mini pack of Trader Joe olives with a partner. Lucky for me Kathi does not like olives, so I had a special treat of all 12 olives to go with my pita bread and jelly. I think we had some sort of almond season seed cracker for dessert... I still am at a loss for what it really was. I hope supper is a bit more substantial.

We arrive at camp early and hardly know what to do! We set up and manage to get almost completely set up before it starts to rain. This is another three-tier group camp and it requires some math skills to figure out how we can make the best use of the space. We also have a privy that seems really close to camp, it has a wall, but really close. And stranger yet, within 20 feet of the bear pole.
We have a neighbor in camp. He is taking his second trip around the Wonderland trail this summer. His wife told him to see if he could squeeze in another trip this year. He decided to give it a go. He looks like he is ready to just jog around the mountain, so I think he will make fast work of the trip.

We have gotten accustomed to also starting supper as soon as possible when we get to camp. And without much notice, we are tents up and water boiling only to find we are ready to start supper at 4 pm. Kathi and I splurge and have two cups of tea to warm up. Having early tea gives us a chance to get it all processed before going to bed. For dinner, Kathi and I have some sort of potato cheese soup and some Nana bread. I think the rest of the group is having some sort of Indian curry something. It has onions in it so it is off the menu for us.

We stand around and chat knowing our time together will end tomorrow. It is raining on and off throughout our evening. It is another cold night and we all go to bed with a hot a hot water bottle. It is very chilly tonight.

We wake to snow at the 6000-foot elevation. What we can see of the surrounding mountains they all have a snowy hat on now. Burrrr chilly.

Privy at Mystic Lake

We saw a lot of Rain and little of Mount Rainier

Pathway of the floods coming down from Winthrop Glacier in 2006

Looking up at the glacier, Mount Rainier is hidden in the clouds. Rock covers the lower glacier.

Empty bear pole with the lifting pole attached

this is a nice falls, but not the one we suppose to see.

Campground at Granite

Nice privy up at the neighbouring campsite at granite...a little more privacy rather than right next to camp

Jen looking for the slow leak in her sleeping mattress. Has to blow it up 2 or 3 times a night.

hiking down into the pathway of Winthrop, you can see the scale of the wash out compared to our group. This was a little sketcchy hiking down this stuff. Sort of unstable.