As I said before, it rained on and off all night. We woke up before the alarm at 6 because of Elk bugling in the valley below us. We got up to try to see them, but we were in the clouds once again. We were out of camp by 8:15 (including outhouse visits on the way out). The clouds had burned off by now so we were going to end our hike with beautiful weather and views.
This is our second longest day on the itinerary but 3rd in effort. Golden Lakes is at the same elevation as Mowich, the only problem is that we have to drop 2300’ to South Mowich River and then climb 2300’ back up to Mowich Lake. The trail starts out level through a meadow for a couple of easy miles, but then you start switchback hell. We could see clear cuts in the distance which is an indication of how close we are to the park boundary. We tried to keep track of the number of switchbacks but lost count well after 30. It wasn’t a bad hike down, but every time we made a turn and kept dropping, I just kept anticipating the climb back up. Plus, my pack wasn’t feeling right today. It felt unbalanced and pulling to my right. If I adjusted the straps to get it even, I ended up losing circulation in my right arm. I was getting frustrated.
South Mowich River Camp is on a patch of land between the North Mowich River and the South Mowich River. Once again, the floods of 2006 did a number on these river valleys. There is a lot of debris to climb over and around. These rivers vary in flow on a near hourly basis depending on heat and rain above. I wouldn’t want to camp down here in a rain. All in all, I’m glad we’re just passing through here and not camping here. We met one couple coming out of South Mowich camp. We kept playing leap frog with them for a while but once the climbing got serious, they left us behind.
Pam must have been ready to get out today because she was a relentless hiker. She kept pushing us to keep moving. I think she really wanted a shower. We made it back to Mowich by 3:30. I was dragging bad and disappointed that there was no fanfare to celebrate our completion. We got a couple to take our after picture and then we headed to the car.
While we were dropping our packs and changing out of our boots, the couple came up to us and told us they were having a problem. His mother was supposed to make a food drop but they couldn’t find it. We agreed to give Erika and Phil a ride to the Carbon River Ranger Station. On the drive down, we found out they both work for Fish and Wildlife and this was there first time in 12 years of living out here that they actually got time off in the summer to hike the Wonderland.
We got them to the ranger station and the NPS had enough left over food and fuel to set them up. We also gave them some snacks we had left over—some Lara Bars and nuts. The ranger was going to drive them up the road toward Ipsut Creek so they were going to be fine.
We headed back to Enumclaw to get a hotel for the night and to get reintroduced to civilization. The Guesthouse was the perfect setup for us. They let us have the room right next to the laundry and said we could dry out our gear in the courtyard. First things first, though. We showered. Pam said “14 days without a shower is too long, but after 5 days it doesn’t really make much difference.” She’s a keeper!
We walked on down to the same pizza place we had eaten at on the way out 2 weeks ago—Jackson’s. Then we walked on down the street for some coffee and chocolates. We have our hiker appetites and we need to keep them in check for the next few days. We headed back to the room to finish off our chores and get to bed by 10:30. We found a hotel in Seattle for tomorrow night right above Pikes Place so we’re all set.
