Wonderland Trail Fail
The Wonderland Trail was supposed to be our big backpacking trip of the summer. 10 days. Lots of elevation gain and lots of elevation loss around Mt. Rainier. It was kind of the true test of what we were made of backpack wise. Heavy packs, lots of walking. Good times. The Monday of our first day we woke up to rain. While not unheard of in the Pacific Northwest.......after a week of sunshine we were not pleased. We loaded the car up anyway and headed for Mt. Rainier. We decided to begin our adventure at Longmire. It is a popular place so we figured our car would be safe there. We had a plan of how we wanted to attack the mountain. It involved on average between eight to ten miles of hiking a day. The entire trail is 93 miles. Not easy but not epic distance wise. When we went in for our permit (this year there was no reservations it is on a first come first serve basis) we were told our plan wouldn't work. There are only so many people allowed at each camping area so the ran...