10.7 miles, 3200' gain, 2500' descent

Mike left us this morning, hiking back to Mowich Lake as his time off work had come to an end. And thus we were three.

After Mystic Lake comes a really ingenious bit of trail design where the path descends a series of lateral moraines approaching the Winthrop Glacier. Very fun and cleverly put together. The glacier was impressive, and Winthrop Creek crossing straightforward. Next comes a Big Up, at first steeply with views of the glacier, then more gently through gorgeous forest past Granite Creek, where we met some other hikers who have the same last few days itinerary as us. Continuing upward out of the trees to Skyscraper Pass, it was too cloudy for any views today so I decided to cancel my idea for a side trip up Skyscraper Mountain (I'll be back for that some other day).

Into Berkely Park, and all of a sudden the trail got busy. So many marmots! And golden-mantled ground squirrels. Also, day hikers. Clean smelling people with tiny packs.

Problem: Tanner Two was not feeling well. We continued the extra mile past Sunrise Camp to the main Sunrise complex, where the Park Service did some kind of magic (have I mentioned yet how great the Park Service is?) and summoned an EMT seemingly out of thin air to check him over. Sasha and Tanner made the difficult but wise decision not to continue further into the wilderness while feeling short of 100%, so they dropped off the trail here and I found myself unexpectedly on my own.

I hike solo all the time and am comfortable alone in the mountains, but it took me a good half day to shift gears to this new situation. I was greatly enjoying the company of our most excellent hiking group, and I missed them. From here on, puns would remain unsaid due to lack of Tanners.

Congrats Sasha and Tanner on completing the western and northern sections of the Wonderland, from Longmire to Sunrise!

Near bear encounter #4: on my way from Sunrise back to camp, other hikers told me a mama bear and cub had been seen inside the camp area. When I arrived there, a cluster of backpackers were looking up at a hillside where the bear, far enough away to appear just a black speck, was blocking the trail up to 1st Burroughs. Eventually she moved and normal trail traffic resumed.

It got cold here at night, so I wore hiking pants, down jacket, hat and gloves inside my sleeping bag.