Got my Wonderland Trail lottery slot

[peakbagger]

I will be getting access to the reservation site next week. Setting up lots of itinerary's to make sure I get a trip set up, anyone have any "gotta stay there" or better to hike past places?

[garlic08]

Indian Bar was the campsite I saw that was worth mentioning. Otherwise they're just places to sleep, in my opinion.

[peakbagger]

Thanks, its a start. When I did a stretch of the PCT trail this past fall, many of the sites had ponds and lakes.

[jeffmeh]

Jealous. I was able to spend a few days in the park last September, but was only able to get out for a couple of short hikes, with one quick jaunt on the Wonderland Trail. Beautiful country.

[peakbagger]

I got skunked on the lottery last year but ended up doing 6 nights on the PCT just north of there as a backup plan.

[Miner]

2 years ago, I was able to reserve a trip 2 days before starting, while waiting to leave work on the Friday before Labor Day weekend. All thanks to last minute cancelations of people who planned their trip in spring and decided not to go at the last minute in September. I was planning on going anyway for a walk up permit, but was glad I didn't need to bother. That said, I was 2nd in line to pick up my permit and would have had no issues getting a walk in permit. The ranger station near Mowwich Lake doesn't get a lot of visitors so showing up an hour before opening worked.

A lot of camp sites are nice and often have a lake near by; you can see which sites have lakes on the maps. Only a few really have a good view of the mountains from the campsites. Some places are just a site to camp at and nothing special about them (especially on the western and southern sides).

My favorite site for views was Summerland in the east. Least favorite was Paradise River in the south. The best views overall are between Nickel Creek and Mystic Lake on the eastern half.

When choosing campsites, remember to consider the overall elevation gain and loss per day and the trail is often steep; no PCT grade trails for many parts. I normally plan by daily mileage only and really suffered my first 2 days on the western side when I had around a vertical mile of gain and loss each day on steep terrain as you are going up over a ridge to immediately drop into a deep valley, only to repeat. The more daily mileage you plan, the more gain you'll have. The rest of my trip had lower mileage than I normally want, and I was grateful that I was forced to do so by a lack of campsite alternatives available. If the trail had been better graded, I wouldn't have hurt as much and could have done better mileage even with the gain/loss.

[RockDoc]

Trail ran it in three days a few years ago. Liked the East and South sides best.

[peakbagger]

That was painless, I logged on before my allotted time, and all my choices were available. I picked my sites, waited from my official log in time and clicked order. A bit more info and a credit card and got a confirmation email in minute or so. Now its time to figure out the details like how to get from Seatac to Longmire and sending a cache cannister.

[HeatherNC]

Good luck! I did it in 2020 (yup, that year) and it was amazing. We did it counterclockwise starting at Box Canyon to maximize our resupply options. Fave campsites were Indian Bar, Klapache Park and Snow Lake (a bit off the trail but worth it - my friend literally burst into tears when she saw our site!). We shipped resupplies to Summerland and Mowich Lake and left one at Longwood before starting out.

Mowich Lake and Devil's Dream sites looked pretty sucky. Still, if that's where you gotta stay, it would still be worth it.

A note, while you can supposedly have up to 5 people per permit, we had 3 and that was perfect. The campsites are small and have pretty limited flat/non-rooty space. The website says you can only have 2 tents, but I was told by a ranger that as long as you stay within the boundaries of the site it's fine. We had 3 one-person tents and we filled the flat spaces at almost every site. Another friend did it the next year with 4 total, 2 of whom had obnoxiously large tents, and they barely fit and someone was always rolling downhill. Just FYI.

[HeatherNC]

A note re transit, we priced out shuttles and it ended up being the most cost-effective just to rent a car, even though it just sat at the trailhead the whole time. We were able to split it among 3 people, tho.

We stayed here the night before starting out and it was delightful: https://www.elkamp.com/campsites

[peakbagger]

A note re transit, we priced out shuttles and it ended up being the most cost-effective just to rent a car, even though it just sat at the trailhead the whole time. We were able to split it among 3 people, tho.

We stayed here the night before starting out and it was delightful: https://www.elkamp.com/campsites

Thanks, we located a shuttle firm and it comes out to around $200 to $250 for a drop off and pickup for one person. I had booked for four, but it was looking like I might be solo but now may be 2 to 4 so will go with a rental which gives us some flexibility. Thanks also on the info on the size of tent sites. I ran into that on the PCT north of there last year, even at organized campgrounds, finding flat spots was a challenge for even our 2 man Copper Spurs. I agree on Mowich Lake, it does not appear to be a highlight campsite, but not a lot of obvious options. I do see the alternative route via Spray Park Trail that skips it with a smaller campsite, Eagles Roost and expect when I check in for a permit will see if there are openings. No doubt folks like me overbook sites during the lotter and plans change so there should be last minute spots, its just stringing them all together into an entire circuit that is a challenge. The reservations are in late August so that means the demand will be there.

[TheAri]

My wife got to do this before it was a lottery draw, that’s awesome congrats