Northern Loop Trail Day 4, Sunrise to Granite Creek Camp, September 5th, 2002


Dad was keeping an eye on the weather forecast throughout the week, and noticed that it looked nice on Thursday and Friday, so he suggest a hike up to the top of Skyscraper Mountain, only a few hundred feet up from Skyscraper Pass. That sounded good to me, and with a forecast that didn't call for rain, I asked if he'd mind if I continued from there on to complete the rest of the Northern Loop, having him pick me up at Ipsut Creek camp the following day. I didn't expect any trouble getting a site at Mystic Lake, but sure enough, according to the ranger, it was booked solid. I guess we should have gotten a little earlier start, or spent less time eating breakfast at Charlie's in Enumclaw! So, I had to pick an alternate, and I chose Granite Creek Camp, a scant mile and a half or so from Skyscraper Pass.



The day began sunny and clear, but darned chilly up in the mountains, such that I eschewed my normal shorts and t-shirt for my wind breaker pants and a fleece top. We made it to Frozen Lake in no time at all, and soon were at the junction which would take up towards Mystic Lake on the Wonderland Trail. At this point, we were almost overtaken by a solo hiker, who as it turns out, was also heading to Granite Creek Camp that night. We got to chatting a bit further, learned that Jake was a police officer in Kent, not far from where I myself work. We chatted on and off up to Skyscraper Pass, and he decided to accompany us to the top of Skyscraper Mountain as well.



The views from the top were simply stunning, as all of Grand Park and the valley of the west fork White River are laid out below. Also quite prominent is the Winthrop Glacier coming off Rainier, and pieces of Mystic Lake could be seen. Just as we were making the short ascent up Skyscraper Mountain, the clouds rolled in quickly, obscuring our view of Rainier and not improving the temperatures any! Somewhat surprisingly, we weren't the tallest think in the area, as the Mount Fremont lookout was still above us! I'll need to get up there before this summer is over. I tried to find the spot where I had crossed the White River a few days before, using my binoculars, but it was too far away to make out. I couldn't find anybody in Grand Park or on Rainier, either. After a little while on the top, we scurried back down to Skyscraper Pass, where we came upon four park rangers, only one of whom was so uniformed. She naturally had to check the camping permits carried by Jake and I. We said good bye to my Dad and headed down the trail to Granite Creek Camp, arriving there in just under an hour.



Again, I seemed to get the nicest spot in camp just by the luck of the draw, being closest to the beautiful mossy Granite Creek. Curiously, just as I was snapping some photos, the four rangers went by. I asked one of them how far it was to Mystic Lake, and she replied that it was about 2.5 miles, all uphill. I thought that was very odd, given that it's really about 3.5 miles, 1000 feet downhill and 1000 feet uphill! I guess being a ranger doesn't guarantee knowledge of your domain... The temperature was actually dropping, even though it had only gotten up to about 50 degrees F on the REI-mometer to begin with! I wasted no time getting the tent up and sleeping bag out, and crawled in for a bit of reading before making dinner. It stayed in the mid 40's temperature wise, and I essentially put on all my clothes to keep warm enough while outside of the sleeping bag. This night I had some rice and bean soup, and later, the yummy Mountain House sweet and sour pork with rice. Fortunately I brought some extra hot chocolate, as it was certainly nice to have in my insulated mug as I continued reading. The sun tried to come out a bit towards the end of the day, but it didn't help warm things up. It was dipping below 40 degrees as the sun was going down, and I knew it would be a cold night! As it turned out, it got well below freezing, at least on the REI-mometer, with the mercury falling to a chilling 25 degrees F! What a way to spend a 30th birthday, eh? Ah well, the book and food were excellent, the company earlier in the day was good, and the lack of any of the usual stress and commotion from 'civilization' was very welcome on vacation!