I’ve been off grid for a while since leaving Colorado on May 12th, occasionally resurfacing to check in with civilization. Lots of biking, skiing and hiking. Whilst hanging at Packwood with a retired friend of mine, I decided to bag one of the 100 Peaks in Mt. Rainier Mountaineers list, an easy one right off the Wonderland Trail between Box Canyon and Indian Bar. In fact the off trail section to Bald Rock (5904’) was easy going and more of a hike than scramble, but negotiating the Wonderland “Trail” above 4500’ was mostly on snow and rather tedious, requiring due diligence to stay in the vicinity of the trail. The western slopes are currently experiencing a record setting heat wave so the melt off should be accelerated substantially over the next week. I’m not complaining, I had the “trail” to myself and the views were unique on the spur that housed Bald Rock, looking back towards the mountain with the Cowlitz Divide in the foreground. This outing was 10 miles with 3100’ of climb, but the snow travel compounded the difficulty a bit.