S Puyallup to Pyramid Creek, August 13
The next morning we began the climb up from the South Puyallup river along Emerald Ridge, and this was one of the most spectacular views in the whole park. It was also a little sad because we could see where the glacier USED to run straight down the valley and it has retreated significantly. The Wonderland Trail was originally a service trail for park staff to monitor the park and wasn’t designed for tourism. When they decided to open it up for public use the goal was to have the trail ‘kiss’ the edges of the glaciers, and I’m sure it did when it was built.
All things must end, and after skirting Emerald Ridge we dropped back into the trees by crossing this moderately scary bridge.
We then passed into another very pretty area, “Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground” which featured one of the old patrol cabins that still looks to be in use. And we made a small detour to visit Mirror Lakes.
From here we wound up back in some rather buggy forest, past Devil’s Dream Creek and to our campsite on Pyramid Creek. I wasn’t able to get a good photograph but these creeks were in very deep slot-like canyons that I found fascinating. I might need to hang around all day waiting for good light to do them justice. This was also around the time I noticed my ankle was bothering me but since we had a few short days ahead I wasn’t too worried about it yet.
