🗻 Greater Northern Loop - Day 4
⛺ Mystic Camp to ⛺ Carbon River, 4.8 miles (ca. 8 km).
| Date | Start | End | Trip 🚶miles | Today's 🚶miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-08-20 | Mystic Camp | Carbon River | 13.8 | 4.8 |
Most of the other sites at Mystic Camp have already been vacated by the time we wake-up. Evidently, we're still catching on sleep. Because of our late wake up, we do miss out on our neighbor's offer to boil us some water.
Last night we discovered that we're blowing way to fast through the 3oz (ca. 110g) butane canister we have for the 3 days to our resupply at Mowich Lake. Writing on the canister claims ~21 boils, but we've used more than half the canister making yesterday's lunch & dinner.
Time to be more careful with the flame size. And turning off the stove as soon as the water boils. We do make some tea for our breakfast as we pack up.
⛺ Mystic Camp
We start with a short climb to pretty Mystic Lake.
Shortly after Mystic Lake, we run into two backpackers on their way out to Sunrise who can spare another small gas canister. It has been used some but should tie us over to Mowich Lake with what we have in ours.
We continue climbing for another half mile (ca. 800 m) to a pass. From here it is nothing but downhill until the Carbon River campsites.
The views are not as good today. More smoke has come in from the Canadian forest fires and obscure the views of Mt Rainier.
We start our ~4 miles of downhill, initially along a small creek through a verdant green valley. The valley was formed by moraine pushed aside by the Carbon glacier. The glacier has long retreated and the moraine is now covered in trees.
The terrain changes as we near Dick creek at mile 3.5. There are 2 campsites just off the trail. We cross Dick creek and continue on. Casper is pretty tired and I have his backpack again for stretches at a time.
The terrain is rockier now. The trail isn't as smooth as it was earlier on. Still very green though with small streams running across the trail. Some have really sweet little waterfalls.
🌉 Carbon River Swing Bridge
After ~4.5 miles, we reach the swing bridge across the Carbon River which we'll need to cross to get to the Carbon River campsites.
One by one we cross the swing bridge as instructed by signs at the bridge. Casper first, followed by Tatyanna and then myself.
⛺ Carbon River
The Carbon River campsites are another 0.3 miles past the bridge, just across a side river flowing into the Carbon River. The glacial waters of the Carbon River are much too silted to make good drinking water. But the side river offers clear drinking water (after filtering).
The same Ranger who checked our permits at Mystic Camp checks our permits and asks for our help to clear a new site. A landslide has destroyed some existing ones, and he is creating new ones. Using an ax and a shovel he had the beginnings of a new pad, but a large boulder needed to be moved. It was too heavy to move, even with a sapling over a fulcrum for mechanical advantage. The 3 of us were able to move it out of the way though.
To save fuel, I'm closing the Mountain House meals off with "homemade" clothespins after pouring in the boiling water. This keeps the heat in better.
An hour before dusk, we say goodbye to the Ranger who is hiking back to Mystic Camp. Color me impressed.
Tonight Casper and Tatyanna sleep in the tent while I cowboy camp outside.
