Wonderland Trail Day 8: Mystic to Granite Creek

There is a part of me that feels a certain sense of accomplishment when you cover a lot of miles with a lot of vertical gain, and that’s a common element of most days on the trail. This was not one of those days.

Day 8: Granite Creek

Distance: 4.6 miles
Time: 2.5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation +/-: 1,502’/999′

This day was a reminder that I was where I longed to be… in the mountains. Why rush? Why not lie on your back in the afternoon, sunning on a rock next to a babbling creek? And that’s exactly what we did.

The hike from Mystic Camp to Granite Creek was short – a mere 4-1/2 miles – and took us all of two leisurely hours to complete.

We started with a descent of 1,000 feet to Winthrop Creek, and the views of Mount Rainier began to open up.

Jason and Derek preparing to cross Winthrop Creek

The lower section of the Winthrop Glacier looks less like the snow and ice we think of when you imagine a glacier, and more like dirt and rock. Beneath that talus there is ice, moving slowly down the mountain.

The dirty, rocky Winthrop Glacier can be seen through the trees.

After crossing Winthrop Creek, the second half of this day’s hike was all uphill and forested. We crossed Granite Creek on a log and the camp was on the right. The camp sites were spread out nicely, and arriving before lunch, we had our pick. We chose a roomy site closest to the creek, setup our camp and proceeded to laze about for the remainder of the day.