Talk:Wonderland Trail

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[edit] Trail Length

There is no consensus on the length of the trail. Even two books different books the same authors (Manning and Spring) don’t agree on the length. This is understandable as the trail would be hard to measure and changes every year as sections are rerouted because of damage to the trail. I have used the 95 mile figure from Spring, Ira; Manning, Harvey (1999). 50 Hikes in Mount Rainier National Park. The Mountaineers. ISBN 0898865727.  Is there a better source for the length? Patleahy 06:50, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I would suggest using 93 miles as the length. That's the figure that the NPS uses in text on the Mt. Rainier National Park web site, and it's also the distance showing on the Wonderland Trail profile map put out by the NPS. This number seems to be pretty much corroborated by Bette Filley, who appears to have been something of a mileage fanatic. In the 1992 edition of Discovering the Wonders, she indicates that using a measuring wheel, she determined the distance to be 92.2 miles. Rickbb 20:36, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I changed it to 93 miles with citations to Filley and the NPS document. -- Patleahy 02:38, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How Many Thru-hikers Each Year?

As someone who thru-hiked the WT this past summer, I seriously doubt the undocumented claim in the first paragraph of the WT article that 5,000 people a year complete the entire trail. Given that the hiking season is roughly two months long, that would require that close to 100 people complete a WT thru-hike each day. My experience on the trail would lead me to believe that number is way high.

Some examples from my hike. (For the record, I did my hike from August 18-28, during a period of excellent weather, late enough in the season so that the snowpack going over Panhandle Gap was minimal. In other words, nearly optimal timing and nearly optimal conditions.) First, the night I camped at Mowitch Lake, I arrived at the campground there about 2:30 and set my tent up right next to the trailhead where hikers would come in from Spray Park or Mowitch River. If the 100 hiker per day number were true, I would expect to see several thru-hikers come off the trail at that point that afternoon, since Mowitch Lake is one of three major trailheads. I don't recall seeing any. Also, I started and finished my hike at Longmire, which is probably the major jumping off point. The night before I reached Longmire, I camped at Maple Creek, which is about 10 miles from Longmire. Given that distance, if the 100-person-per-day number were to be valid I would have expected at least 5 or 10 others to be camped at that campground and like me putting themselves in position to finish the next day In fact, there was no one else in the campground that night.

If I had to estimate, I'd say 500 people a year would be closer to the truth, but that's just my guess. Maybe the park has done some research and could provide a figure.

Rickbb 22:44, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Filley, Bette (2002). Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail: Encircling Mount Rainier (5th edition). Dunamis House, p. 52. ISBN 1-880405-09-1.  says that 200 to 250 people complete the trail a year. I'll put that figure in the article. -- Patleahy 05:24, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Works for me. That's more in the ballpark than 5,000. Rickbb 22:39, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Elevation Change

A little background on the change I made to the Elevation Change number in the infobox. According to the Hiking Trails WikiProject discussion page, apparently the correct number to use is elevation gain plus elevation loss. The previous figure cited here was a one-way elevation change number, so it should be doubled (the trail being a loop). Filley (p.41) says that the one-way elevation gain is 22,786 feet; I calculated it using the Wonderland Trail profile map as about 22,000 feet, so I went with ~8 miles. Rickbb 20:22, 27 March 2007 (UTC)