Thursday, August 6, 2026
15.52 miles, 3323′ gain/3225′ loss
We were up at 6:15 and hiking by 7am. My sleeping pad and pillow started leaking overnight. It was warm overnight with a low of 57. We took a brief detour for a view of the mountain and the valley, and then took a more substantial detour to visit Mowich Lake. We were glad for the trash cans, picnic tables, and vault toilets. We did some hand laundry and got rid of our trash.
I then pushed on ahead towards Golden Lakes. One solid downhill and one solid uphill. It was much smoother trail with a much better grade than yesterday. The climbing reminded me of the PCT, with steady switchbacks and well-graded gains. Most of the trail was in the cool shade of pine forests.
There was a little trail finding at the low point, crossing the South Mowich River’s flood damage zone. But the trail maintainers helpfully put pink surveying ribbon along the new trail, which helped immensely.
I arrived at Golden Lakes campsite at 1pm. I scouted the sites and picked Site 4 for the views and space for 2 tents. I had the campground to myself until Emily and Jacob arrived around 3pm.
I enjoyed the peace and quiet to have a leisurely swim, filter extra water, and rinse out and sun-dry all of my clothes. It was a nice reset, on a warm enough day (78-degree high) to make the cool lake water feel wonderful.
Once Emily and Jacob arrived, I ate snacks and kept them company for their joyful afternoon swim and hand laundry, including Emily inflating her sleeping pad to float around! We relaxed afterwards, having dinner at our campsite with a beautiful view of Golden Lake and the surrounding mountains, with a partial view of Mt Rainier.
