Wonderland Trail Permits

[Shutterbug]

Go to the source. You collect the permit from a Ranger Station before 10am of the first day of the trip. Mowich may, or may not, have a Ranger Station.
https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvis...ess-permit.htm
Wayne

There is a Ranger Station at Mowich Lake, but I don't think they handle permits. The permits on the north side are at the Carbon River entrance.

[Shutterbug]

We did Longmire to Mowich Lake in 13 hours, starting in the dark and finishing in the dark. Yes, that was tough, but you can do it if you hike strong for enough hours (again, not for Novices). This was our second day, after hiking from White River to Longmire. Our third day was Mowich Lake to White River, which for some reason seemed to get easier. So we did it in 3 consecutive days, but after a lot of training that winter, spring, and summer. My wife drove the van around, with our camping gear. We spend night two in Longmire Lodge as a nice splurge.



The interesting thing was how much of the WT, IMO, is not so great and I have no interest in repeating. Like the whole North side, and much of the buggy, mostly viewless West side. Having said that, we've gone back twice to hike the 18 miles from Box Canyon to White River (East side), which is super cool and reaches the highest point of the WT at Panhandle Gap. That, and the spectacular North side are worth doing again, but IMO that's about it. YMMV.

I would also add that we passed a number of tired, overburdened backpackers who said they were not having a good time spending 9 or 10 days mostly swating bugs. They saw the size of our day packs and said "that's the way to do it".

RockDoc, I am impressed. 35 miles with more than 10,000 feet of elevation gain in 13 hours is impressive. Not many of us could do it.

[Venchka]

There is a Ranger Station at Mowich Lake, but I don't think they handle permits. The permits on the north side are at the Carbon River entrance.

Thanks. The Park web page was vague about Mowich. The road is closed at the Carbon River entrance.
If I wanted to submit a permit application on or before March 15, I would call the Park.
Wayne

[RockDoc]

RockDoc, I am impressed. 35 miles with more than 10,000 feet of elevation gain in 13 hours is impressive. Not many of us could do it.

Thanks. I do not recommend it. It's better to go slow and enjoy (we passed people who said they were taking four days for that stretch). But now and then you have to take the machine out and see what it can do. That year we also ran several trail ultramarathons up to 50 miles, so by August we were ready. It's not about speed, it's about strength and endurance. Just saying..

BTW I said the North side was boring, sorry I was turned around; I meant the buggy, brushy South side where you hear road noise all day. The North side is like alpine Heaven! Of course, all this is just my opinion. YMMV.

[Shutterbug]

Thanks. I do not recommend it. It's better to go slow and enjoy (we passed people who said they were taking four days for that stretch). But now and then you have to take the machine out and see what it can do. That year we also ran several trail ultramarathons up to 50 miles, so by August we were ready. It's not about speed, it's about strength and endurance. Just saying..

BTW I said the North side was boring, sorry I was turned around; I meant the buggy, brushy South side where you hear road noise all day. The North side is like alpine Heaven! Of course, all this is just my opinion. YMMV.

I agree that the hike between Box Canyon and Longmire isn't as pretty as the rest. When I do day hikes, I hike to Summerland or Spray Park, but Kaplachie Park and Indian Bar are my favorite camp sites. Permits for either of those are hard to get.