Introduction
I won the Wonderland Lottery for 2024 but I was given the last window to make an itinerary before reservations were open to the public. I spent weeks logging on before my reservation window to check what was available. I built itineraries just to see them disappear the next day.
I gave up trying to find a trip in August. However, based on the historically low snowpack winter 2023-2024 I looked to July to steal an early-season trip. As 7:00 a.m. approached the morning of my reservation window I was extremely nervous.
After successfully making my reservation, I couldn't believe I got a six-night itinerary spanning the west and north sides of the Wonderland that included Klapatche Park, Golden Lakes, and Mystic Lake.
This series of posts is about my amazing six-night trip on the Wonderland Trail's west and north sides in mid-July 2024.
Day 6: Cataract Valley to Mystic Lake Camp
Destination:
Getting Started
The temperatures had been staying pretty warm overnight. My 40°F rated under quilt from Hammock Gear was holding up nicely. I slept well enough and woke up ready to get started on our difficult day. However, the rest of the group wanted to take it a little slower, and I obliged.
After being reassured we would be ready to go at 9:30 a.m., I couldn't resist taking a picture of the campsite at 9:28 a.m., with chairs, cooking equipment, and tents still sprawled about. We were the last group still in camp.
It was another wonderful and sunny morning, something I was now used to on the trail. We still enjoyed chatting and squaring our gear away, before hitting the trail just before 10:00 a.m.
The Hike
Today wouldn't be particularly long, but it would include a difficult climb up from the Carbon River to the top of Moraine Park. I hadn't forgotten this climb in seven years. When my sister and I hiked this stretch back in 2017 (the same day as the near-total solar eclipse), we were shocked by how difficult the climb was up and out of the Carbon River Valley.
I had been trying to mentally prepare everyone for this stretch of trail, while also promising incredible views of Mount Rainier at the top of Moraine Park, and, wow, are the views in Moraine Park special.
Sauntering down from Moraine Park, through sub-alpine meadows, we would cruise into Mystic Lake and down into the trees where the camp is.
Switching Camps
When I wrote about day 1, I mentioned my experience of not getting Mystic Lake Camp for our last night when first booking the reservation online. I hoped to request a change when picking up my permit from Granite Creek to Mystic Lake because I knew hiking from Cataract Valley Camp to Granite Creek would be a very difficult day.
Thankfully, the ranger was able to switch our last night camp from Granite Creek to Mystic Lake Camp when I picked up my permit, utilizing the walk-up lottery inventory.
Although getting ahead of myself, I'll mention that on our hike out the next day from Mystic Lake Camp, my cousin, and brother both remarked on just how difficult it would have been to have to hike from Cataract Valley to Granite Creek. Switching to Mystic Lake made a huge difference and it contributed to help make this trip such an awesome experience.
Descending to the Carbon River
Dropping down to the Carbon River was uneventful. It was a couple of miles, and the trail was nice, mostly shaded. I planned to stop and get water, take a break, and eat some food near Carbon River Camp. I wanted to check out the camp, too.
Just before the Carbon River Suspension Bridge, the trail opens up at a junction. To the hikers' left is Cataract Creek and a log bridge leading over the creek to a trail up to Carbon River Camp. To the right, the trail continues to the bridge.
We went to the left to check out Cataract Creek. The creek was flowing well. The water was clear and perfect for filtering, and the creek had large pools for getting in the water to cool off. My cousin and I dunked our shirts and my brother climbed up to a larger pool. The water was extremely clear. It would be worth staying at Carbon River Camp just to have easy access to this creek.
We spent some time at the creek and I took my pack off to head up into Carbon River Camp. I was amazed at how long and steep the trail was to get back to the camp. The sites are tucked up on the hillside with widely varying levels of desirability. I put at least a half mile on the GPS just by checking out the sites.
Carbon River Suspension Bridge to Moraine Park
Crossing the Carbon River Suspension Bridge is pretty fun. The bridge is 200 ft. across and is pretty bouncy over the rocks and fast flowing Carbon River.
Once on the other side, the fun was over. It was a rocky, steep, and exposed push to Dick Creek. Rocks and boulders were all over the trail. It made me a bit nervous about rock fall with just how messy the trail was. It's about a mile from the bridge to Dick Creek. I had been thinking about this climb for a while and was ready. The climb went well and I was pleased to arrive at Dick Creek to cool off and get some water.
The trail by Dick Creek diverts to cross the creek at a lower spot. The bridge had washed out and was replaced by a series of logs and other rocks. The diversion is a bit steep but is marked.
I didn't walk up into Dick Creek Camp, but I wish I did. It's another camp that would be nice to stay at with its proximity to a clear and cold creek.
The second part of our climb, from Dick Creek to the crossing of Moraine Creek would be similar in distance and elevation to the first part of the climb, just a little more so. Conversely, it would be less exposed and on a softer trail. This section was more difficult than I remembered. Pushing up the switchbacks I stopped at a small pool and waterfall (46.93596 N -121.77700 W) not far from the Moraine Creek crossing to wait for the others.
Jordan came up not far behind me. I told him I would wait for Brent but he could keep going up into Moraine Park, just make sure to stop and wait at the top of Moraine Park for us.
Brent took some time to make it up this stretch. Long enough that I got concerned and started back on the trail to find him. No sooner than I started back on the trail did I see he coming up. We got some water and took a break.
Shortly, we crossed Moraine Creek, which would have been another good spot to rest and get water. The trail was less steep as we entered Moraine Park but still trended up.
The last section of the long climb up from the Carbon River would come in the center of Moraine Park as we climbed the shoulder of Old Desolate. However, the scenery would help distract us on the way.
Moraine Park
Moraine Park always comes to mind when I think of the best places in Mount Rainier National Park. It's everything a backpacker can ask for. There are beautiful green meadows, sub-alpine trees for shade, and incredible views of Mount Rainier. Also, Mystic Lake is nearby, along with other peaks to explore.
First climbing up into the meadows of the park you get a view of Mount Rainier's broad north side. The Willis Wall is a dark and jagged breastplate surrounded by glaciers and enormous ice shelves of armor.
Everything is green and growing at this time of year. The trail was quiet and we walked slowly.
The trail is flat and dry. It moves along a meadow toward the shoulder of Old Desolate. On the other side of the meadow are trees but the massive valley of the Carbon River Glacier makes itself known despite being out of site.
The final part of the climb to crest the shoulder of Old Desolate is maybe 0.5 miles and 400-500 ft. elevation gain. It's quite steep and I was amazed at the burn I felt in my thighs but I pushed a little harder knowing that after this it would be smooth sailing to Mystic Lake.
Waiting for us at the high point of the trail was Jordan. A little distressed by the bugs, he thought he lost the bag to his chair. I think he was a little tired and hungry. He wanted to take off and head down into camp. I suggested he stay and wait for us because it was likely we would run into a ranger heading into Mystic Lake Camp.
Moraine Park Tarns, and Bear?
In Tami Asars's book, Hiking the Wonderland Trail, she mentions a tarn a few hundred feet west of the saddle at the top of Moraine Park saying it makes for a nice reflective shot. As Jordan went out ahead of us I told him he could wait for us at the saddle or near the tarn. He ended up waiting near the trail because he was pretty sure a bear was over by the tarn.
I had this side trip on my to-do list for a long time and I wasn't going to miss it because there might be a bear. A little spooked, but undeterred, my cousin and I took the side trail to the first body of water. It was nothing short of stunning.
We began to hear a familiar sound. Something we hadn't heard since Golden Lakes Camp a few days ago. We heard a sound very similar to what we heard the bear make outside Golden Lakes Camp as it went back into the trees toward its cubs. It was "talking" to us.
Naturally, I started making a sound my cousin hadn't heard since we were outside Golden Lakes Camp: "Hey, bear!". We continued along the trail over a small rise separating the two tarns. I wanted to make it to the second, smaller tarn. Trees, also, separated the two low areas and the sound was coming from the trees but we couldn't see anything.
Walking through the meadow before the second tarn was a very large pile of scat, and it wasn't the first we saw making our way over.
The meadow was bright green, except for the large pile of scat right on the trail, and small yellow flowers bloomed all over. My cousin and I immediately noticed these were the same wildflowers the bear was hoovering outside the Golden Lakes Ranger Cabin.
We took some pictures and tried to feel welcome, but didn't stick around long. The side trail continues around the seasonal tarn and it is an approach to the Curtis Ridge ascent on Mount Rainier. We made our way back to Jordan and started the descent.
Dropping down to Mystic Lake is lovely. The views coming off the saddle are huge and soon we were on a nice soft flat trail.
The trail levels out before Mystic Lake and a small creek flows gently through the meadow.
It was about 4:00 p.m., which was later than I expected to get into camp, but the lake looked amazing and I was happy we would be able to enjoy the afternoon.
My total stats from all the walking I had done since leaving Cataract Valley Camp are below:
Length: 7.20 miles
Duration: 6 hours 2 minutes
Asc.: 3,497 ft.
Desc.: 2,546 ft.
Max. Alt: 6,118 ft.
Min. Alt: 3,181 ft.
Mystic Lake Camp
Mystic Lake Camp is down a hill below the lake and back in the trees. There are several good sites to choose from. Surprisingly, only one other group was in camp before us. They chose a site in the center of the camp, maybe site 4 or 5. It was the site my sister and I stayed in back in 2017.
I climbed up to site 2 and told Brent and Jordan this was probably it, but went further down into camp to look at a few others. I came across site 7, which is down and away from the other sites along with site 6. It's spacious and shaded. It had a couple of logs to sit on with a rock table and appeared to have a few good spots for tents. The water source for Mystic Camp is out the back of camp and this put us nicely between the bear pole and water. I called Jordan and Brent down to this site.
They weren't too pleased. Site 2 may have been a better site for a couple of reasons, but the important one was it was more open. This means a breeze made its way through the site and the sun reached the ground in a few areas, which would have been nice for drying out clothes.
Jordan wasn't feeling great, possibly on account of not eating enough food or drinking enough water so he temporarily stopped his protest to prepare a meal and drink some electrolytes. Brent, also, sat down for an appetizer. After eating they found flat enough areas to set up their tents and I was able to quickly identify some trees to hang my hammock.
The bathroom at Mystic Camp is memorable for all the wrong reasons. It remains at the top of my list for worse on the Wonderland Trail.
Water
The water source for Mystic Camp is out the back of the camp along a short trail leading to a creek flowing out of Mystic Lake. The trail to the creek is short and flat, and the creek is easy to access.
Bear Pole
Mystic Lake has two bear poles near site 1. The bear poles also mark the trail to the backcountry privy.
Mystic Lake
There was a meadow across from our site and now and again a breeze would pick up and rustle the trees or push the white wildflowers around. After getting water, eating, and setting up I started gathering things to take to the lake. The most important items to bring up included a small camp towel, a change of clothes, and our snow-chilled beers.
Mystic Lake is right around 5,700 ft. in elevation. On the south side of the lake, Mineral Mountain blocks any full view of Mount Rainier. Walking down the trail adjacent to Mystic Lake, and shaded by Mineral Mountain, I happened upon some snow!
Wrapping the snow in my raincoat, I hauled it down into camp. This may have been the first time using my raincoat this trip. I encased the beers in the snow to chill them before we went to the lake.
Mystic Lake has a large shallow area on the east side that campers and hikers use to sit by the water or access the lake for a swim. First, we followed a trail around the north side of the lake, past the turn-off to the ranger cabin, looking for a place to access the water or where my brother could easily fish from.
Nothing looked that appealing and we ran out of trail so we headed back to the east side and chose a small sandy area. The sun was bright reflecting off the water but felt nice and warm. My cousin resolved to sit in his chair and do some serious reading, which he tried to do in between conversations with my brother and me.
Jordan and I opened our Wonderland Trail IPAs from Two Beers Brewing. It was a fitting way to spend the last afternoon. We heard the first booms of rocks and ice falling in the direction of Mount Rainier, which had my sister and I concerned back in 2017.
The other two thought the sounds were coming from Mineral Mountain but I assured them the large crashes were coming from glaciers and rocks breaking somewhere on Mount Rainier and echoing down into the valley.
My brother tried fishing on the east side but it's pretty shallow. Also, another group was swimming nearby which didn't help his situation. I walked back around the south side of the lake to a small area on the shore where I could access the water that would give me some privacy as I rinsed off.
A tree had uprooted and fallen away from the lake, making for a perfect place to hang my clothes and belongings while I got into the water. It was shallow but I made do. The water was very cold and clear this early in the season.
I invited my brother over saying it might be a better place to access the deeper parts of the lake. He walked out, seemingly to the middle of the lake, and cast out over the drop-off.
He didn't catch anything but fishing out on a lake as pure as Mystic, in the backcountry on the Wonderland Trail, surrounded by ridges, meadows full of wildflowers, and rocky peaks made it worth it.
We spent more than an hour at the lake before heading back to camp to make dinner
Back at Camp
We organized our gear, made dinner, and played cribbage on the small rock table as it got dark. No group came down and stayed in the other site next to ours, which felt like a bonus. It was a perfect evening and a great way to end our last of six nights.