Willis Wall 2020 Year In Review

2020, the year of COVID. Lots of changes in the Willis Wall World….retirement, selling our house, purchase of a Class B RV a few years ahead of schedule, and temporarily residing in Colorado. I traveled and lived full time in the RV for 3 months, traveling from Washington to California (spending two weeks hiking with my daughter), then back to Washington. While back in my home state I spent some time in the Olympics but the majority of my hiking was in Mt. Rainier National Park; peak bagging, hiking the Northern Loop Trail and my 32nd time around the 93 mile Wonderland Trail. I departed at the end of October and made my way to Colorado to rejoin my wife, stopping in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. From 9,000 miles of driving, 1000 miles of foot travel and over 174,000 feet of climbing come snippets packed into a 6 minute video. My thanks to my son and my friends who allowed me to spend a few nights in their driveways during this time. Please enjoy, and stay safe!



Mt Rainier Grand Tour: Part 1 (East)

Morning on the Grand Tour (7000')My familiarity with Mt. Rainier led me to consider a trek that would cross all zones, climb high and go off trail, using the Wonderland and other trails for access. Witness the Mt. Rainier Grand Tour, a 150 mile trek with 50,000 feet of climb and descent, which could be subtitled "Beyond the Wonderland." On July 22-24, I did what might be considered the "easy" part of the journey, traveling from Longmire CCW to White River. Now I've done this portion of the Wonderland Trail in one day many times, but the Grand Tour is what one might call "slightly harder."
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