Northern Loop Trail Day 2, Redstone Camp to Berkeley Park Camp, September 1st, 2002




I began the day by, of course, collecting all my gear and packing it up, then going to see if anyone was home at the ranger station. Surprisingly, nobody was, and it didn't look like anybody had been for a while. It sure is a nice spot though, and wouldn't be bad at all to spend a few days or weeks there! Due to the five days worth of food and various extra clothing and supplies, it took me quite a while longer than I expected to get out of camp, nearly an hour and a half. I left just after 9:00.



There are some interesting rock formations near the trail between Redstone Camp and Lake James, about half a mile away. In fact, there were many all the way down to the White River, about 2.5 miles. It was quite obvious that Lake James once had a giant camp site very near the shore, and not only because of the 'No Camping' sign put up by the rangers. It didn't seem a very appealing spot to camp, as the entire area surrounding the lake was quite muddy and looked like it would be a bug haven. The view of the Natural Bridge was quite nice from there, however. About a mile or so down the trail from Lake James, I saw a large pond off the trail covered in lilypads, which was rather unexpected! The trail down to the White River was quite nice, soft and for the most part free of roots and rocks, and also not very steep until a final short section near the bottom.



I stopped and took a short break at Van Horn falls, just a small distance west of the river. I drank as much water as I could, in preparation for the 2500 foot climb up to Grand Park. The west fork of the White River is much like the Carbon River, only a bit bigger. The roar in the middle of the river was quite astonishing, as somehow the canyon walls amplified and echoed the already loud, shallow river, and made it sound as though a flood were headed down towards me from the glacier. After taking a few photos of the major and minor crossings, I got out of there in a hurry! Just a ways in from the river, I came across the West Fork trail, which is a little known or marked trail leading into the park from forest service road # 7560. Apparently it's a rather nice trail, and is about 3.5 miles to this part of the Northern Loop Trail from where you park. This would make it the shortest route to Lake James, and not bad to Grand Park, either, though it's certainly a climb. This is one way you could 'sneak' into Mount Rainier NP without paying any entrance fees!



And so it begins! Another day, another multitude of switchbacks to climb! Between the river crossing and Grand Park, I counted no less than 36 switchbacks! I stopped for lunch at the Fire Creek Camp turnoff, and was so beat I lost count, so it may actually be 38 switchbacks. Man was I glad to see that sign! I'd already been on that section of the trail, all the way to Sunrise, so from then on I knew what to expect, which made the going a bit easier. The hike between the White River and Grand Park is really some of the best trail conditions you will find anywhere in the park. The climb is not steep at all, the trail is very soft and free of any obstacles, and the woods are typically cool and airy. I was happy to feel the warmth of the sun as I came to the open spot near the top of the climb, just a short ways from Grand Park. I arrived to find a family of four enjoying the view, so I stopped and chatted with them for a bit. It was nearly 10 degrees warmer here than down in the valley, and significantly more windy than Windy Gap! Looking down at the White River below, which I had crossed only three hours before, I couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer fact of how far up I had come with my monster pack! Unfortunately, Windy Gap and the Natural Bridge were both completely obscurred by a cloud.



Soon enough I was in Grand Park, and the sun started to disappear. As you can see, most all of the wildflowers had gone by that point. The shot of Rainier is looking up the valley of the White River, towards the Winthrop Glacier and Mystic Lake. The small waterfall is near the confluence of two small streams, about 1/3 mile north from Berkeley Park Camp.



Once again, I was the last one to arrive at camp for the day, but seeing as this was the second most physically challenging day, that's alright! I still managed to get there about 4:15, which I thought wasn't too bad. It was once again chilly however, at about 50 degrees F on the REI-mometer. I set up the tent soon enough and got dinner cooking. This time I had a different meal from the gourmets at Mountain House, beef teriyaki with rice. I highly recommend this particular dish, I think it's the best dehydrated food I've yet had, besting even Mountain House's own excellent sweet and sour pork. The camp site was great, I think I still got the best one in the place, even though it was the only one left! I had room for probably two additional tents, a great tree to sit on and under, and plenty of the usual logs on which to sit or place gear to dry. The trees around my site were mostly moss covered, whose branches were like big fuzzy arms surrounding the guests. As I sat back to do some reading of a fine Julian May novel, a deer decided to walk by and started eyeballing me. He completely circled my camp spot before heading off for the night.



As the night went on, the skies once again decided to clear up, so I did a little scouting around camp to take some photos in the sunlight. The raging waters of Lodi Creek were only about 75 feet away from my camp site, which was great not only for acquiring water, but to listen to at night. Naturally you can't miss the Mount Fremont lookout from here, standing out quite well against the blue sky. The last two pictures are looking up at Skyscraper Pass, which, weather permitting, I would cross on my fourth day. The southern flank of Skyscraper Mountain is on the far right of those photos. I headed back to camp to read for a bit while chowing down on some M & M's, and before I knew it, I had to get out the flashlight to finish the current chapter in my book. Into the tent and sleeping bag I went, for another nice night!