Women in the Wilderness: Wonderland Trail Loop, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington

The Trip

Join a long tradition of women in the wilderness as we celebrate 40 years of women’s trips. Connect with nature, find camaraderie, and trust in yourself as you traverse the spectacular scenery over our 93-mile journey.

The Wonderland Trail is one of the greatest hikes on earth. There is so much spectacular scenery in our nearly 100-mile journey that it is impossible to absorb it all. Hiking for miles in hushed forests with enormous trunks that are so old the spaces feel sacred. High passes provide staggering views of Mt. Rainier in all its glory and there are miles of alpine meadows full of berries and a healthy number of black bears. We will pass lakes, waterfalls, and glaciers as we travel through every life zone in the park. Mt. Rainier National Park, our fifth, was designated in 1899, and by 1915 the Wonderland Trail was completed. In 1920, Roger Toll described the trail as follows and it is not much different today, "There is a trail that encircles the mountain. It is a trail that leads through primeval forests, close to the mighty glaciers, past waterfalls and dashing torrents, up over ridges, and down into canyons; it leads through a veritable wonderland of beauty and grandeur." 

Over our 10 days together we will hike some long and demanding trails, but we will also enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet. Our camps will be at designated group sites, where we will share tents, and the last two designated group camps are at rustic and comfortable historic wooden shelters. Two food caches will allow us to carry only three days of food at a time. Awkward but functional bear poles or lockers at every camp enable us to do without carrying bear canisters. The Park Service maintains the trails to high standards that will make hiking easier. This includes a myriad of bridges from small log crossings to impressive suspension bridges high over raging torrents of water. We are never at extreme heights; our highest elevation will be 6,800 feet and the lowest is about 2,800 feet.

Day 1: We meet at Cougar Rock Campground at 5:00 p.m. to enjoy dinner, have a trip briefing, and distribute group equipment and food. We will camp here tonight and tomorrow night.

Day 2: Leaving camp set up at Cougar Rock, we will drive to Box Canyon, leave our cars there, and day-hike 11 miles back to Cougar Rock for another night. Today our elevation gain and loss are both 2,200 feet.

Day 3: Leaving early, we backpack 14.5 miles with 3,900 feet of elevation gain and 3,000 feet of elevation loss over two ridges and alpine meadows to a cozy camp near a river.

Day 4: Today our hike takes us past lakes and through meadows and forests to a camp next to a quiet lake. Our hike today is 12.5 miles with 3,400 feet of elevation gain and 2,400 feet of elevation loss.

Day 5: Crossing a large river and hiking through lovely forests will lead us to Mowich Lake, where we pick up our first cache. Today we hike 11 miles with 2,400 feet of elevation gain and loss.

Day 6: Today we will hike the Wonderland Trail to Carbon Creek and Ipsut Creek Campground, with a possible side trip on the Tolmie Peak Trail to Eunice Lake and Lookout.

Day 7: We will ascend to our camp at Mystic Lake with close-up views of Carbon Glacier along the way. Today we will hike 8 miles with a 3,600-foot elevation gain and 250-foot elevation loss.

Day 8: Today we ascend to some magnificent meadows with spectacular views before rapidly descending to White River Campground where we will pick up our second cache and camp. Today we hike 12 miles with 2,200 feet of elevation gain and 3,600 feet of elevation loss.

Day 9: Crossing another large river, hiking through more old-growth forests, and then ascending to the tree line and alpine meadows will take us to our first shelter and one of our highest camps. Today we hike 7 miles with 2,200 feet of elevation gain and 400 feet of elevation loss.

Day 10: After hiking through meadows with spectacular views, we gradually descend to our camp in a large shelter next to a stream. There will be an optional 3- to 4-mile round-trip side hike from Panhandle Gap for a view of Cowlitz Chimneys. Today we hike 5 miles with an elevation gain of 1,000 feet and loss of 2,000 feet.

Day 11: Leaving early we will enjoy some wonderful views as we ascend a ridge and then descend back into a lush forest before eventually reaching our vehicles. This morning we hike 8 miles with an elevation gain of 1,200 feet and loss of 3,000 feet.

Getting There

We will meet at Cougar Rock Group Campground near Longmire Wilderness Information Center, within Mt. Rainier National Park on our first day at 5 p.m. Cougar Rock Campground is located 14 miles east of Ashford, Washington, on State Route 706/Paradise Road. The drive is about 2 hours from Seattle’s airport and 2.5 hours from Portland’s airport.

Accommodations and Food

Due to the nature of the area available for our tents, everyone will need to share tents.

We will plan a diverse and appealing menu to accommodate both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Meals, including beverages, will be provided from dinner on day one through breakfast on the last day of the outing. Responsibility for cooking and cleanup will be shared by trip participants. Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners will all be hearty, healthy, and varying. Participants will be required to bring their preferred trail snacks. The leaders work hard to make the weight of the food as light as possible to lessen the loads in our packs. Careful attention is paid to ensuring there are sufficient calories with high protein content, so our bodies are well-fueled. Organic foods are used as much as possible. We can easily accommodate vegetarians.

Trip Difficulty

This is one of our harder backpack trips and has a rating of 5 (the most difficult -- strenuous). We hiked approximately 100 miles on good trails during this trip and had about 22,000 feet of elevation change during our 10 days of hiking. Our average daily mileage is about 10 miles with an average elevation gain and loss each day of 2,200 feet. All backpack trips are physically challenging, and this one is no exception. However, for those in excellent condition, this will be a memorable journey.

Equipment and Clothing

We bring all the pots, stoves, and food. We will distribute about 7 pounds of group food and gear for each participant to carry at the beginning of the trip and after each cache pickup. We limit personal gear weight to less than 20 pounds for everyone’s safety and trail comfort.

Rain can be abundant on this trip requiring quality rain gear and thoughtful techniques to stay dry. A detailed equipment list that includes suggestions for staying dry in rainy conditions will be provided after you sign up for this trip.

References

Maps:

• Mount Rainier Wonderland Trail Map - Green Trails Maps Inc. (269SX). This is an excellent map of the Wonderland Trail printed on sturdy waterproof paper and created in 2019.
• Wonderland Trail: National Geographic Topographic Map Guide (1014). This is perhaps the handiest guide (created in 2018) to use in the field. Printed in booklet form with 24 sturdy waterproof pages.
• Mount Rainier National Park: National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map (217). Superb map produced by Nat Geo in 2019.

Books:

• Lorain, Douglas, Mount Rainier’s Wonderland Trail. Wilderness Press, 2012. Loaded with all the information you need to hike the Wonderland Trail. Also available as a Kindle edition enabling you to have easy access on your smartphone in the field.
• Asars, Tami, Hiking the Wonderland Trail: The Complete Guide to Mount Rainier’s Premier Trail. The Mountaineers, 2012. Like Lorain’s book but has more glowing reviews. Also available as a Kindle edition allowing easy access to the field.
• Egan, Timothy, The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest. Vintage, 1991. Egan is an engaging writer who brings the Northwest, including Mt. Rainier, into perspective in this series of conservation and historical essays.
• Stark, Peter, Astoria. Ecco, 2015. An absorbing history of John Jacob Astor’s and Thomas Jefferson’s quest to create another, even more enlightened, republic in the Northwest. It is a story of unbelievable adventure and hardship that eventually ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846.
• Egan, Timothy, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis. Mariner Books, 2012. Although not strictly about the Northwest, Curtis’ photography career started with his studio in Seattle and his images of Princess Angeline (daughter of Chief Seattle) and Puget Sound.
• Lopez, Barry, Horizon. Knopf, 2019. From his home in Oregon, Lopez writes this sprawling humane reflection on the state of the world. A prize-winning conservation writer Lopez shares the wisdom he has accumulated from traveling the world as he is dying of cancer.
• Blackwell, Laird R., Wildflowers of Mount Rainier. Lone Pine Publishing, 2000. A light and compact field guide to the common plants of Mt. Rainier that would not be too much to carry in your pack.
• Mathews, Daniel, Natural History of the Pacific Northwest Mountains. Timber Press, 2017. This is a gem of a book covering plants, fungi, animals, geology, and climate. Best of all it is available in a Kindle edition that can be easily carried and accessed on your smartphone.

Conservation

Rangers at Mt. Rainier -- which is designated a Class I (highest level of air quality protection) by the Clean Air Act -- have an ongoing struggle to monitor and maintain the air quality in the Park. Industrial pollution from large cities such as Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver has a significant impact on the air quality at Mt. Rainier. The acids formed from this pollution have a deleterious impact on streams (which are uniquely sensitive to these acids) in the Park. About 97% of Mt. Rainier National Park has been designated wilderness with the expectation that the plants and animals here will be preserved. However, climate change is melting the glaciers, prematurely warming the streams each year, and warming the environment generally.

Ongoing efforts at the Park are being undertaken to monitor changes in the animal, plant, and insect populations in the Park as the climate warms. Aggradation (building of rocks in riverbeds) is accelerating due to glacier melt and threatens many Park roads and bridges. And in the overly dammed rivers surrounding the Park, considerable effort and money have been spent to bring back the salmon runs that almost totally disappeared over the last few decades. These and other issues will be discussed on this trip.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.