August 27, 2014
Day 5 was the BIG one - lots of mileage, but also lots to see.
Once I struggled into my damp clothes and got the other garments hanging nicely on our packs (socks and all), we were on our way to a rough but terrific day. Andy and I were probably chatting about food from the day before when suddenly something black emerged behind a log and walked across the trail about 20 yards ahead before continuing on.
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| Bear first thing in the morning just a couple minutes outside of White River Campground |
Yay! Another bear sighting :) It didn't care about us and kept on its hunt for berries. We kept talking to make sure it knew we were there and to avoid any surprises. Well, that was an exciting start to the morning.
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| Signage |
I was super excited for Summerland. Summerland, Summerland, Summerland is all anyone talks about when you bring up Rainier. Well, not really but it sure is popular. The chipmunks definitely get fed here. They're not even scared of people. They were kind of annoying.
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| Summerland |
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| One bold chipmunk. Then came five more. They sure are friendly. |
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| Om nom nom |
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| Huffing and puffing on leg day |
There were so many marmots here. And a lot of clueless day hikers, too. I'm not being mean, but there are literally signs everywhere saying to stay off the sensitive areas and big sticks/log blocking off small boot paths. People walk on them anyways. It hurt to see this.
We continued on from Summerland to Panhandle Gap and the area above Ohanapecosh Park. This section was so beautiful if I write any more I'll just repeat myself saying how beautiful it was. The hike was strenuous and again, there was little to no shade for relief from the sun.
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| Rock and water. Also sky and clouds. |
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| ME! |
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| Gorgeous |
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| Very cool shards of rock |
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| If we had time we would have loved to climb up. Those ladies encouraged us to, but didn't understand our demanding timeline that day so we continued towards the left. |
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| Much needed lunch break before making our way up then down to Indian Bar |
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| Indian Bar |
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| BE SURE to fill up on water here before continuing |
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| Looking back towards Indian Bar |
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| "We were all the way up there then hiked all the way down there and now we're all the way up here!" |
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| Beginning to worry if we'll make it to camp before the sun sets. |
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| Made it, but had to set up and grab water a half mile down in the dark. |
We made it to Nickel Creek with a drop of water and 10 minutes of sunlight left. It's a pretty crappy camping area tucked in the forest about a half mile up from the creek. I think I remember reading the campsite had to be moved due to all the mice or rats or something. Anyways, we didn't care about the lame location (I did for a second but didn't say anything since I planned the trip heh..). We had a tough day and were hungry and thirsty. After setting our stuff down we booked it down to the creek with our headlamps to gather some water for dinner and drinking. Bear poles were available and the toilet was the typical wood box with no walls although this one wasn't very sturdy so careful jumping off!
Total miles: 18.25 miles
Total time on trail (including breaks): 12 hours
