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Day 5 (Thur, 7/31).  Mystic Lake to Glacier Basin (5980 ft elev).  Backpacked 10.5 miles with 4014 ft gain and 3606 ft loss

a. Optional Side Trip (En Route):   Skyscraper Mt.
b. Optional Side Trip (En Route):  Fremont Lookout
c. Optional Side Trip (After Camp): Visit Inter Glacier (route to Camp Shurman).   1.82      1275  1275

Got up at 0500.  I felt great.   Looked like my body recovered overnight and re-energized.   I was hungry and had a big breakfast.   I ate the dinner that did not eat on the day before.   A long backpacking day was ahead of us.  Some left at 0550 -0600.   I left 0640.    It was little chilly but felt great going down to cross the xxxx creek that can see the glacier.   Then, headed up the switchbacks.   I met 2-3 different hikers/groups dayhiking to the creek crossing to see the glacier.  They started from the Sunrise.  It would be about 16-18 miles round trip with 3000ft - 4000 ft elev gain.   Again,  I felt great but was not moving fast.   Missy passed me on the switchbacks while I was writing these notes.    It was getting hot and would be exposed pretty soon near the Skyscraper Pass.  So, I took my time going up the switchbacks before the Pass.  The bugs were not bad at all.   I ate my lunch (Cliff Bars) and lots of snacks (mixed nuts) on the switchbacks.   Actually,  my lessons learned from previous day was to add salt in my water so that I did not need to drink lots of water but took in some salt.    I started putting some salt in my water bottles, and sip every 10-15 minutes.    I drank less then 1L before reaching the Skyscraper Pass, and felt ok (with thirst).  (This method worked throughout the trip.   I am planning to do the same during my future backpacking and dayhike trips.   I recall that on some long dayhikes, I would drink 6-8 L water without salt.   It was probably bad for me.)

At the Skyscraper Pass, the 360 views were amazing.   Then, I saw the boot tracks to the Skyscraper Mt.   I decided to take a quick trip (45 min) and took some video shots.    I was able to ascend quickly without my pack.   From the Skyscraper Pass, it was all high country walk that was exposed to the Sun until going down on the steep switchbacks to Glacier Basin camp site.    The high country walks from Skyscraper Pass,  Berkeley Park Junction, Sunrise Junction,  and Burroughs Mt trail were probably one of the highlights of the trip.

At the Frozen Lake (Sunrise Junction),   there were lots of dayhikers since it's 2 miles in from Sunrise TH.   I dropped my pack and decided to bag the Mt Fremont Lookout trail.    I saw the Lookout from the Skyscraper Pass/Mt.   The Mt Fremont trail looked so nice and there were several hikers.      It was a nice short hike that's rewarded with fantastic surrounding views (Mt Rainier,  Burroughs Mt, Skyscraper Pass/Mt, Berkeley park, etc).    At the Lookout the northern views were amazing.    The Grand Park, Glacier Peak, Mt Baker,  the Winthrop area, (still burning), etc.  I highly recommend to do a dayhike on a nice day, 

Quickly went back to the Frozen Lake junction, took some break, and headed up to the Burroughs Mt trail.    It's trail is directly heading to Mt Rainier.  Its views were amazing.  Earlier around 1330,   I saw 3 climbers on the Mt Rainier via the Edmond Glacier route.   On a nice day, I also highly recommend to do a Burroughs Mt hike.

After the grandeur views on the Burroughs Mt trail,  it's very steep trail down to the Glacier Basin Junction.   About half way down,  I felt pain on my left side of my calf on my left foot.    It turned out that my boot was pinching the tendon.  I had to loosen up the boot laces.   Its pain lasted 4-5 days on the downhills.    Later (back at home),  I found out that it was called the Flexor Digitorum Longus Tendon (part of Calf Muscle).    The fix was to loosen up the boot laces at the ankle but the new problem was jamming on my toes on the downhill.    When I went to sleep for next few days, I started feeling some numbness on my big toes on both feet.  (Some numbness on my big toe lasted for over 2 weeks after the trip.)

Glacier Basin camp site was big and nice (and not to many people).    Hardly any bugs.   After dinner,   Bill and I strolled on the Inner Glacier trail which is a gateway to Camp Sherman (base camp for climbing Mt Rainier via Edmond Glacier).    It was well defined trail.    We met a couple of folks who were on a 3 day trip (Glacier Basin & Summer Land).   I mention them here because a funny thing happened at Summerland when I saw them there again.  ( A story of my lost wallet.   Actually,  I did not lose it.)

With the roaring White River, we went to sleep around 2000.    It was surprising warm at the Glacier Basin overnight.  It was probably one of the warmest mornings for the entire trip.

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