Hammocking on the Wonderland Trail
Hey Guys & Gals,
Just thought I'd throw a post up about hammocking on the WT as I didn't find much info when I was looking.
I hiked the Washington's Wonderland Trail July 17-23rd. Great trail, great tread, stellar views. I'd happily hike it again (and will).
There are plenty of trees to hang from in the campsites on this trail. Stealth camping isn't allowed, so I stuck to the campsites. I was with 3 others. Two of us hammocked and two of us slept in a tent. We were actually able to set up hammocks in the site or right on the edge of the site, and I actually sat in my hammock rather than on the ground or on a log when we were hanging out in the evenings and mornings.
I used 8' long webbing, and 6' long whoopies. That was adequate. There are some big trees out there for sure, but I was able to find trees that worked with the above setup without issue.
Bugs were not much of an issue once the sun went down, and I never pulled the bug sock over me. I used a Warbonnet Yeti UQ, and that was fine. A friend used a Prolite Thermarest and that was adequate for him as well.
If you have any questions, feel free to post.
Re: Hammocking on the Wonderland Trail
You won't have issues hammocking...the campsites are not at any of the high elevation views that you see in photos for the WT (with the exception of sunrise, which there are still very good trees to hang from). Even Mystic Lake which is fairly high still is in the woods with a lot of easy hammocking hangs.
No issues from rangers with regards to hammocking, as we never saw any at campsites... only on the trail, and most of them would ask to see the permit for the group immediately, not something I am used to. That being said, I asked rangers over the phone early in the year about hammocking and they raised no concerns when I asked about feasibility and the use of a hammock. I'd recommend using webbing for the tree end.
There was plenty of snow in Panhandle gap. That was probably the biggest snow day. Some a little sketchy, but by now most of the sketchy stuff is clear...nothing really of much concern. We had a short section where there were under-snowfield rivers where one could punch through, but it was a very small section.
I camped at South Puyallup, Mowich River, White River, Mystic Lake and Nickel Creek.
White River was the only one that was car accessible, so it was a wee bit louder than the others, but not bad really. Mowich Lake is also accessible by car...and the sites there didn't look to appealing.
If you can, try and stay at Summerland or Indian Bar. I'd advise against Nickel Creek, as the water is a ways from the site and the sites are poor there. You should be able to avoid the sites that are car sites. When you get to the office to retrieve your permit, you can switch up your sites depending on what is available.