The Wonderland Journal

Miles hiked: 21.9

Mile marker: 836.9

Why is everything wet this morning? The foot of my sleeping bag, my tent walls. I’m going to have to dry this out this afternoon. 

I’m ready to go and quite cold. We’ll warm up soon enough. Dad points to the left and a different scene unfolds. Clouds are the backdrop for the dusty blue mountains. 

I’ve got a stomachache from eating a pop tart, so I fall behind the others to use the restroom. The ground is a plush field of rock and grass. Giant cracked boulders are off in the distance with tufts of bright green grass. 

I listen to some music as I walk up the rocky switchbacks. The rocks slip and slide as my trekking poles struggle to plant into the ground. 

The sun is just now peaking over the mountain. I can see the rocks slowly begin to glow. 

I press on over the switchbacks until I spot Bumper waving at me. I keep moving and finally reach the top. 

It’s a plain view of snow capped mountains and some swampy looking lakes. 

“I like this view,” Luxy says. “It’s my favorite, actually.”

“It’s my least favorite!” I respond. “But the mountains are nice.”

“I like how rugged it is,” she responds. 

A little dust bunny runs by. Was that one of those picas Dad told me about? I just saw a gray blur go by. 

We begin the descent. It’s snowy and rocky, and the snow is slippery. The rocks are tricky to get across because they’re loose and large. 

The lakes are off in the distance as we descend. There’s a giant waterfall that is bubbling with water as it crashes down. We pause for a moment to enjoy the view of mountains over a deep valley. We descent down the Golden Stairs, a long staircase that leads us into the shadows and back into the glowing light. The wall looks like carved play dough as we go down the stone steps. 

We step into a big cavernous canyon that looks like it carved the earth. Pink wildflowers are everywhere. Another waterfall gushes over rocks as we pass by. 

We step into forest and are greeted by splotchy shade. Savannah (Voyager), Bumper, Luxy and I are walking together. We cross over a log that goes over a river. The mountain, wildflowers, and river crossings continue. 

Luxy and I are right by our lunch spot when a deer is in the woods right by us. She stands there for a minute before walking away. Savannah runs into us and sees the deer as well. 

It’s been a hot day with a nice breeze. We lay out our sleeping bag and tent to dry in the sun and spend the lunch hour eating, rinsing in the freezing river, and repacking our things. 

The others get ahead of me because they leave ahead of me while I’m still packing. Soon I’m pushing hard to catch up while I listen to music. 

I pass another rushing waterfall as I move through the woods. A lizard! I see a plump black lizard in the shrubs. I haven’t seen one rod these since the desert!

I pass some more wildflowers and another waterslide river. I reach a wooden bridge over gushing water. Skinny spline trees are ahead of me. 

The woods open into a sunny field with a stream running through it. The sun is bright overhead. 

I run into Luxy and Bumper. They are watching a mother bird of a dusty color stand guard while her babies hop around. 

Luxy and I are struggling uphill to catch the others. There’s a rock monster near us, but I don’t know where. 

“There!” Luxy says. I look over and see the rock monster eating Savannah! It’s a giant boulder with little rocks acting as teeth. 

We all get into the monster’s mouth and grab a photo. 

Soon we’re on the uphill again. It’s a long ascent, and Savannah reaches the site first. It says:

Camp low. No more spots. 

We soon spot Luxy in her bright pink shirt! Luxy! I’m so happy to see her. It’s just me, Rafiki, and Luxy. We set up camp on a little rocky peninsula and goof off until bedtime. That means that Luxy dropped her crumbs in our beds. 

After all, I hear bears don’t go above 10,000 feet in elevation.