Longmire Lodge For Breakfast
Despite the sore muscles earned by three long days of hiking, Steve and I woke up and were on the trail by 6:40am. Maybe it was the idea of eggs and bacon or a possible shower at the lodge but we were looking forward to spending some time relaxing at Longmire. I had purposely made today a low mile day so we would not have to rush. The only remarkable thing I remember was the deep gully that gulfed across Kautz Creek that made for a little bit a scramble through brush to find the trail on the other side.
It didn’t take us long to cover the 3.5 miles until we reached the road crossing over to the Longmire area, and we decided to have breakfast first before picking up our resupplies at the ranger station. The restaurant had a few tables occupied with both tourists and hikers as we arrived and I asked for a table closer to the door that I could see had an outlet next to it, important for charging my phone. I also thought it would be nice for any guests of the hotel not have to sit next to our trail scent.
It wasn’t long before Steve had coffee and a glass of milk and I had orange juice and waited anxiously for our hot omelets (with a side of bacon). We laughed at our tiny $3.50 glasses but decided it was worth it.
Our local waitress chatted with us about how she hopes to do the Wonderland next year. I asked Robbie, our host from Georgia, what brought him up this way to work the summer at Rainier and discovered him to be a fellow long distance hiker who did the AT in 2010. His trail name is Mellow Yellow and he has been working on several long trails while employed at places like the national park.
Steve and I asked him about the shower situation and he set us up in the free community showers that the lodge has for Wonderland hikers, complete with complementary soap and towels. I used this as an opportunity to wash my shirt and socks, which I later set out to dry. It felt good to be clean, especially when hanging out where we were surrounded by folks in the park for just the day or staying at the lodge itself.
Assessing Our Resupply
After cleaning up, we spotted the picnic tables over next to the gift shop and while Steve started assessing his pack, I walked over and picked up our resupply box from the Wilderness Information Center. Back at the table, I opened it up like a kid at Christmas, remembering the treats I had left inside. The apple and coconut water were refreshing, and went well with second (larger) serving of orange juice I had bought at the store for $1.75.
Keeping our food close as we repacked due to the chipmunks circling close by, we reevaluated what to take for the last 3 days of our trip and what to leave in the box that we would give back to the ranger station and pick up on our way home. We also worked on Steve’s sleep pad, which had sprung a leak the night before leaving him sleeping uncomfortably on the ground, despite using every single stitch of clothing, shoes, and gear as cushion. So uncomfortably so that Steve was hatching a plan on the way in this morning to pay top dollar to any hiker leaving the trail who might sell him theirs if he couldn’t get his patched or the store didn’t have something comparable to sell. However, the $200 Mt. Rainier blankets were much too bulky. Luckily with a little teamwork, we found the tear and saved the rest of the trip before having to resort to panhandling for a mattress.
It was about this time in the trip when Steve began to talk about how this trip was really testing his ability to stick something out, he was being thrown challenges every day. His overwhelming desire to complete the trail was at odds with the sore ankle and equipment failures. The lack of sleep the night before didn’t help either. When I jokingly told him he was just going to have to “Man Up”, he said that was the first time anyone has ever said that to him.
That is one of the things that I love about longer distance hikes, you really have to face fears and learn what you are made of. It was exciting to see him go through this, just as I have done and other friends I have taken hiking have done. It is a wonderful journey.
Longmire Lodge For Lunch
After making the final decisions on our packs, we dropped our resupply box back off, checked the upcoming weather forecast and then walked back over to the restaurant for lunch. Yes, lunch! Although the kitchen is a bit slow here, the food was delicious and we had a park employee at the table next to us to tell us stories about jobs he’s done around the park and other goings on.
The one that I remember most was about how there was a time not so long ago that a helicopter carrying one of the black steel drums with labels printed HUMAN WASTE you see on the trail next to the toilets accidentally dropped it close to Sunrise on its way out. He described what a biohazard clean up that turned out to be. I don’t even want to imagine!
After lunch, Steve and I took up residence on the back porch of the lodge that faces the road and hoped for a view of Rainier (it was playing peek-a-boo in the clouds). I had given my back-up battery to Robbie to charge and he plugged it in behind the front desk because the outlet on the porch wouldn’t fit my adapter.
We spent a few hours watching construction trucks go one way and tourists heading the other. It was fun to watch families enjoying the short walks around the Longmire area, and we discussed the rain in the forecast for our last day and the possibility of heading home from Indian Bar if it was bad. Steve talked longingly about Summerland again, as has been the theme so far on the hike. Summerland this, Summerland that. Nothing has compared to Summerland yet so far as he was concerned. Well, we’ll see what happens if we get there and there is nothing TO see.
While sitting there, Steve decided to run over to the store to see if they had any pain reliever. I always carry some, but nothing weaker than Tylenol with codeine, which he was reluctant to take. He came back from the store shaking his head because they had nothing stronger than children’s Tylenol. Not wanting to go without doing something, he had picked up some Icy Hot and proceeded to apply it to his elevated ankle and we both awaited the hot/cold relief it would provide.
Nothing. Feeling disappointed, he read the label and noticed it had expired back in the spring! I guess some expiration dates actually mean something. He quickly got up and headed back over barefoot to exchange it for functional Icy Hot. It wasn’t long before he returned with a new tube, even if the clerk was unhappy to have to trade because Steve, like any true hiker, had discarded the box and receipt as soon as he had left the store the first time. No reason to carry that to Sunrise. We laughed that maybe his trail name could be Icy Hot (Chipmunk Whisperer was the previous nominee).
Leaving Longmire For Paradise River and A Wonderland Reunion
We knew we couldn’t spend the whole day here, so we reluctantly packed up at 3pm and made our way along the trail as it runs fairly close to the road towards Paradise. We could see cars lined up as they waited for the weekday construction flaggers to let them through and each viewpoint brought us in contact with tourists getting out to see waterfalls and glimpses of Mount Rainier. Today was most certainly not a wilderness day.
Before making it to the Paradise River campsites at 6pm, we ran into several groups of hikers we had crossed paths with on our first day, including KK from Singapore! We had a mini reunion with him at Carter Falls, took pictures, exchanged names for Facebook friend requests and shared gear talk with a couple there who wanted some tips on lightening their packs.
Another group of four passed by that I remember at the beginning and the woman in back asked what time the store closed because she had her heart set on beer and ice cream. She commented they had done the trail in 4 days! I told her that it was probably closed (it was about 5:30 at this point) but that the restaurant was open until 8pm and they had both her desires. Her eyes perked up and she continued her fast pace down the trail. I know that feeling…
Paradise River
The Paradise River campsites aren’t much to talk about, and the toilet is a bit of a trek back into the woods. There were several nearly fallen trees noisily squeaking as they rubbed on neighboring trees that had caught them, so I choose a site up front to avoid being kept up all night. I did chat with a hiker in another site who was setting up a Zpacks tent, asking him if he was happy with it. He said he was and he and his wife fit comfortably. They are all the rage in the long distance hiking community right now.
After hanging our food, Steve and I decided on an early departure so as to get to Reflection Lakes before sunrise and we were in our tents by 7:30pm. It was still a little hard to fall asleep with the thought of those leaning trees but somehow I managed to drift off a little while later.
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