Monday, Sept. 6

Yesterday's distance traveled: 5 miles (plus two-mile side trip to Eunice Lake).

Last night's campsite: Mowich Lake walk-in campground (4,950 feet).

Yesterday's weather: Mostly cloudy in morning with some occasional drizzle; rain arrives in the afternoon.

Today's wake-up weather: Heavy fog, 39 degrees.

Happenings: While trudging up, up, up the 2,850 feet climb to Ipsut Pass (5,200 feet), I encounter the "Three Ladies." This is a trio my buddy Tim had met earlier in his trip. Kristine Movltine, 47 and Andrea Moawad, 55, both from Lakewood, are circling the Mountain with Linda Evanson of Steilacoom in anticipation of Linda's 60th birthday Sept. 14. "We always do something sick on our birthdays," Evanson said.

"We used to run a minute for each year. Then we started to get so old that we began running in half-time." Added Moawad, who like Evanson has once summited Rainier: "We've always felt obligated to do something unusual, but I think this is ridiculous!" Movltine, who has trouble convincing her husband to undertake backpacking trips, proposed doing the Wonderland loop to her friends. "I just lied and told them how much fun it was," she said.

Their husbands met them at Mowich Lake the night before, bringing a grill, steaks and fresh melon with them. Though the trip is not quite what guidebooks suggested it could be, ("Where are the flowers?" Moawad asked. "For that matter, where is the sun?"), it's obvious the trio is enjoying the journey. "I started this trip with 44 pounds on my back and a lot of whining," Evanson said. "But it's really been wonderful."

I can't say the same for my stiff, uphill lug to Ipsut Pass, even though I pass the world's oldest living yellow cedar tree on my way. I gasped to the pass, then took a side trip to frosty, windy Eunice Lake before descending to Mowich Lake. Day hiker Tim from Maple Valley offered me some carrots, two fruit cups and a beer. His wife Teri offered me a can of V-8. I hastily threw together my tent in a drizzle and bunkered down for a night of rain.

Thoughts: Where IS that sunshine?

Looking ahead: A side trip to Spray Park planned for today may have to wait until another visit.

Last night's dinner: A "self-heating" meal of chicken parmesan from Alpine Aire foods ($6.95). It sounded like a gimmick, but one that might be handy on a rainy day. It worked as advertised, though at 12 ounces it's heavy to carry. And the food, while good, is modest in quantity (for a backpacker's ravenous state of being).

Distance still to travel: 35 miles.

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