Late season long weeked hike around the less-traveled Wonderland North loop.

Drove Thur evening to White River ranger station and slept in car to secure good spot for a walk-in permit next morning. No other cars.

Occasional car driving past kept me from sleeping well, but eventually someone stopping for a bathroom break caused me to get up and setup my chair in front of the station door to reserve my spot. Only one other group of 3 arrived shortly before station opened. Once opened at 7, got my desired campsites for my permit no problem.

Drove up to the Sunrise lodges area passing many cars parked for ... sunrise views. Most of the people there were looking for lodge food or even bathrooms. They were closed for the season. Hit the TH by 10am or so with some partial clouds and a chill in the air.

Passed a few day hikers and some Wonderlanders on the way to the N section of the Wonderland. Opted for a clockwise loop so was going to pass under the N section of Rainier on the 1st day. Made good time and took a detour up Skyscraper Mtn for some good views of the loop's northern route from Lake James down across the W fork White R and across Berkeley Park.

Traveled over familiar ground from my 2016 trip. Glaciers seemed to be barely hanging on to the mountain, and the White River was probably at its lowest point of the year after a long dry summer.

Made it to Mystic Lake and found a good campground for hammocking. Realized I had brought the wrong line for the tarp - too short. Even though there was a forecast for some rain that night, I found some trees for the rope and prepared the tarp in case I had to take cover.

Took an excursion towards the glacier but after an hour didn't feel like continuing down as the glacier was so far retreated that it would have taken quite a while. Returned to the lake and had some tea, then back to camp for dinner in the dark. It didn't rain.

Leisurely breakfast at the lake after breaking camp - all other campers had already left not sure what the big rush was.

On my way down Moraine Creek spotted a big boy back bear in the bushes ahead of me. He spotted me and took off running. Long downhill to tiny Dick Creek CG then along Carbon river, with its big cable suspension bridge - took a detour on that.

The trail finally split from the Wonderland for the Northern loop. Put on the podcasts for the big climb up to Crescent Lake area. Many switchbacks later reached the remote CG for a lunch with nice views of Yellowstone Cliffs and Tyee Peak. Continued over the pass and passed through some of the best views of the trip - meadows and tarns and peaks of Crescent Mountain, Old Desolate, & Sliuskin.

Descended back through trees to Lake James for the next camp. Found a great site for the hammock, but the lake itself unfortunately was low and surrounded by mud so opted not to take a late day bath.

Next morning there was a stronger smell of fire smoke and visible haze. Hoped to spot bears on the wooded trail down to the White River but none. Crossed the river with no issues - plenty of downed trees to use as bridges. Had bfast by the river after crossing and got ready for the climb up to Berkely Park.

Made it up to the park but the fire smoke haze was pretty thick and late season didn't leave much greenery to enjoy. Views of Rainier were also pretty badly obscured as well. Sped through the easy terrain and stopped a few times by streams to enjoy the cool water and views as I climbed back to rejoin the Wonderland.

Shortly before the car a few hikers pointed out what mustve been a wolf way down below us. I could barely make it out but it was either that or a coyote. Back to car and made it to the ranger station to reclaim the chair and sit pad I had forgotten there 2 days earlier.

Fun Facts

• Bear sighting was nice - missed a Cinnamon-colored mama bear