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July 30th, 2025: Cataract Valley Group Site to Sunrise Group Site (14.7 miles, 5,682 ft elevation gain)
“No rest for the weary” is the first thing I thought when my alarm clock went off at 05:00 this morning. Yesterday was our most physically taxing day so far, and with 2 large climbs and over 5,000 ft of elevation gain today, it wasn’t going to get any easier. Hey, at least we were on our last day before a resupply, so our packs were much lighter now.
After our normal routine, we left Cataract Valley en route to Sunrise. Approximately 2 miles in, and 1,000 ft down was Carbon River Camp, our first mini-break to filter water. From there, we made it to the 2nd (and final) of the large Wonderland Trail suspension bridges. This one was more stable than the first, and less high, but equally as impressive. From the bridge, we caught our first sight of the formidable Carbon Glacier. A few fun facts about this glacier. The snout of it is located around 3,600 feet above sea level, which makes it the lowest-elevation glacier in the contiguous United States. It also has the greatest length (5.7 miles), thickness (700 ft), and volume (0.2 cubic miles) of any non-Alaskan U.S. glacier.
Across the bridge, there is a trail junction. To the left, the official Wonderland Trail route, aka the path we would have come from if we hadn’t done the Spray Park Alternate. To go right, a long climb out of the Carbon River Valley to Mystic Lake. This was our direction. The Wonderland Trail paralleled the Carbon River, and the forest transitioned into a glacial moraine. Nick and Kyle went ahead as I stopped, taking a ton of photos of the icy scar that is Carbon Glacier. Every few minutes, the sounds of rock and debris falling from the glacier and small cracks in the ice broke the silence.
September 2025 Matthew checking in again to say that the Carbon River Glacier is by far the coolest glacier along the Wonderland Trail, so be sure to stop and enjoy it even if the climb is a slog. Okay, back to regularly scheduled programming…
Approximately one mile and 1,000 ft of ascent from the suspension bridge, I reached Dick Creek Camp, located just above a rushing creek. It was a long, lonely climb from here to the next highlight, Moraine Park. Kyle and Nick were well ahead at this point, so I took the climb as leisurely as I dared. I passed a very small waterfall right on the trail, and took a nice water break.
Approaching Moraine Park, the grade eased up. I crossed a small creek into my first meadow of the day. It feels weird saying “of the day”, but seriously, the Wonderland Trail has conditioned me to expect beautiful wildflower meadows at least twice per day. While not quite as grand as Spray Park, Moraine Park boasts wide mountain meadows, wildflowers, and views of the north side of Mt. Rainier. It is a very peaceful and serene location on the trail.
I finally caught up to Kyle and Nick at the peak of the park. Thankful to be done with the first ass-kicker climb of the day. Similar to yesterday, the sun was out in full force and the mercury was rising. Reunited, we all descended to Mystic Lake. Set in a wide-open marshland beneath Mineral Mountain, this lake is alongside the trail, and has a nearby camp. A spur trail near the lake leads to another historic patrol cabin.
When I first envisioned hiking the Wonderland Trail, my plan was to do it in 9 days instead of 8, and Mystic Lake would have been one of the camps to make today a bit more manageable. Scheduling conflicts forced me to abandon that plan, and as it stood, we still had 9 more miles to go until Sunrise Camp. Kyle and Nick stayed at the lake for a break, and since I was the slowest hiker, I decided to go on ahead, since they would probably catch up with me relatively quickly.
My path took me east, back into thick forest. Maybe a mile later, I reached a burn zone and washout area near the West Fork White River. The trail was a series of improvised switchbacks cut right into the gravel. Upon reaching the river, I could not locate an obvious path or a foot-log that would allow safe crossing. I had to find a few flat, stable rocks to cross. The river wasn’t very wide nor deep, but it was fast-moving, and so after I reached the other side, I waited for Kyle and Nick so I could show them the best place to cross. It did not take them long to catch up, and once they were safely across the river, we marched on.
We made our way over the glacial moraines, eventually reaching our second glacier of the day, Winthrop Glacier. As we neared the roaring and silty Winthrop Creek, the temperature dropped by what felt like 20 degrees. It was a hot one out, so we stood in the natural A/C for a few minutes, and listened to the sounds of the rushing water, before crossing the foot-log and beginning a 3-mile, 2,000 ft ascent up to Skyscraper Pass.
Along our forested climb, clouds started to roll in. I used my bivystick to get a weather check, and sure enough, it said there was a slight chance of rain. Nick went off ahead again, while Kyle and I lagged. We soon arrived at Granite Creek Camp and stopped to put on rain gear. While there, another hiker staying at the camp came up to us to have a brief chat. Apparently, he was hiking with his family, which included his 2-year-old grandson. They were hiking a portion of the Wonderland Trail. Our conversation reminded me that it had almost been a week since I last saw my own son. It was the longest I had ever been away from him. Though I was having a blast, I was excited to get back home to see my family in a few days.
The climb from Granite Creek to Skyscraper Pass was not that bad. The overcast cooled down the forest, and the switchbacks were springy and gentle. A few drops of rain fell, and that was the only rain we had encountered so far. Weather can be tricky in Mount Rainier National Park, and so far, this drizzle was the only precipitation we encountered in 4+ days (knock on wood).
The trail became more exposed once we neared the pass, and eventually, the landscape completely opened up. We found Nick resting on a rock beneath Skyscraper Mountain. Views from the alpine ridge were sweeping. To the north, the hazy peaks of the Cascades were barely visible through a storm, Mt. Fremont and its fire tower rose to the east above the Berkeley Park meadows, and to the southwest, Mount Rainier stood watch. Its peak threatening to pierce the dark clouds above it.
We had seen many faces of Rainier so far, but this was by far the best. Whenever I think of Rainier going forward, the first image I will see in my mind’s eye will be from Skyscraper Pass. Our group took an extra-long break, just taking it all in. The mountain was so clear, the crystal blues and teals from the ice were glistening under the snow.
The next section of trail, descending alpine tundra into Berkeley Park, were incredibly scenic. We could no longer see the big mountain, but marmots were roaming right off the trail in the exposed, flowering meadows. On some days, herds of goats like to traverse this area as well, unfortunately, today was not one of those days. After one more short ascent for the day, I reached the eastern terminus of the Northern Loop Trail.
Approximately 1 mile later, across rocky terrain, stood a five-way trail junction and Frozen Lake. It was here we finally saw other people, lots of them. Sunrise is one of the three main entrances into the park, and therefore is very popular. Because of this, Kyle and Nick went off ahead to secure a space within the group site.
Eventually, I made my way into camp, where Kyle and Nick were already setting up. A few other tents and a hammock we already there. For the first time on the trip, we would not be alone. Thankfully, the camp was more than big enough. The bugs were horrible here though, so we went to Shadow Lake to filter water, and near the lake a light breeze seemed to drive them away. We ate dinner at the water, and saw a lot of wildlife. Salamanders were in the lake, deer were roaming around, and we even saw a cascade red fox, which did not look like any fox I’d ever seen.
While at the lake, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were now through 70 miles of the Wonderland Trail. We had 22 more miles and 3 days left to go. After a resupply tomorrow at White River, there was only one more major climb, and it was spread out over 5 miles. The cherry on top of it all is that we saved the best for last. Many WT hikers consider the east side to be the most stunning part of the hike. As I wrote in the planning post, I made sure to save our next two camps, Summerland and Indian Bar, for the end of our hike as a reward for all of our hard work. The group sites at those two camps were 3-sided shelters, and since we had them booked, we wouldn’t need to set up our tents for the rest of the trip.
Camp Review
- MLG’s Camp Rating: 5/10
Yeah, so this was by far our worst campsite experience on the trail.
It turns out that the people who shared the campsite with us were a family, and that family had a toddler (not the same family as before). For the first few hours after going to sleep, everything was fine. It all changed around midnight. For the next few hours, the toddler would cry and yell, then stop for 30 minutes, and repeat the process. This went on for the next few hours. The parents did try to calm him down, but it did not work.
Certainly, this review is somewhat biased because of the crying toddler. As a parent of a current toddler, I want to make clear that I am fully bringing your children to the outdoors as long as you do so safely. But yeah, being woken up by a screaming toddler in camp every hour is not fun. It was so bad that I debated just packing up around 0300 and continuing. I felt terrible for the parents because I have the parent of a 2-year-old having a full-on meltdown on an airplane, and nothing I tried worked to calm him down. It was just an unfortunate situation all around.
Also, there were tons of mosquitoes. When I got into my tent, they were waiting for me on the mesh in case I slipped up.
Sunrise wasn’t all bad; the group site was large, the privy was close, bear lockers instead of bear poles, and the water source was Shadow Lake, which was a haven from the bugs.
Author’s Note: Sunrise camp is the highest elevation camp along the trail, sitting at 6,400 feet.
- Kyle’s Camp Rating: 5/10
“Least favorite of the trip and low rating based on the campground being a walk-in overnight for campers. This camp had by far the most people we saw along the trail, and the closest we slept to other tents. It mentally pulled me out of a backpacking mindset. We were lucky to get space as a family got their first to set up their tents taking 1/2 of the avalable space. Bugs were in full-forcewhich made it uncomfortable to fully relax. I was in my tent before sundown for some repreive.
Shadow Lake offered a quiet dinner location where we saw some cool wildlife. We saw several deer, which I thought was cool, but my friends just called me a dork midwesterner for being excited to see deer. (Take note that Nick did stop for pictures after the bully sesh.) But dammit, wildlife is still cool! They are just bummed they can’t be happy like me for such simple pleasures.”
- Nick’s Camp Rating: 5/10
“The group campsite was a collection of individual campsites, which forced us to be interspersed among other campers. If they had been other backpackers, then it could have made for fun socializing, but instead, we got 2 families who thought Christmas in July would be fun for the whole family. Nothing like falling asleep to the neon glow of red, white, and green lights strung up near me. Sunrise also had the worst bugs of any campground we stayed at.
Due to its proximity to the Sunrise parking lot, it felt more like a frontcountry site than backcountry site.
The outhouse was a closed-door, similar to Golden Lakes. It is best used in the morning before the sun turns it into a foul-smelling sauna.”
Day 5 Top Highlight
Skyscraper Pass. The views of and the surrounding landscape were unmatched. If you are going to Rainier for a day hike, I would recommend this area of the park.
Notable Quote(s)
“I hope you enjoy those Christmas lights.” – Me, taunting Nick as the other campers put up Christmas lights near his tent in camp.
Previously: Wonderland Trail: Day 4 (Golden Lakes to Cataract Valley)
Next: Wonderland Trail: Day 6 (Sunrise Camp to Summerland Camp)