Anyone have Wonderland Trail Suggestions?

Looking at trying for Wonderland Trail reservations this year or next. I think I have the new reservation lottery figured out, but that means making up multiple itineraries and hoping we get one. Anyone done it and have any "cant miss" sites?. Or conversely any forgettable sites?. Looks like there will be some sort of group of us so we will probably do the car rental option from Sea Tac since we dont have any contacts out there so we do have some flexibility. I have hiked SE of there years ago on the PCT from SW of Adams to Whites Pass so I think I have an idea of the terrain, but Wonderland trail definitely looks to have far more daily elevation changes. Plan is to send out at least one food cache maybe two.

peakbagger said:

Looking at trying for Wonderland Trail reservations this year or next. I think I have the new reservation lottery figured out, but that means making up multiple itineraries and hoping we get one. Anyone done it and have any "cant miss" sites?. Or conversely any forgettable sites?. Looks like there will be some sort of group of us so we will probably do the car rental option from Sea Tac since we dont have any contacts out there so we do have some flexibility. I have hiked SE of there years ago on the PCT from SW of Adams to Whites Pass so I think I have an idea of the terrain, but Wonderland trail definitely looks to have far more daily elevation changes. Plan is to send out at least one food cache maybe two.

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Did it over nine days in August 2000 in beautiful bluebird skies the entire loop, which is very rare. Being solo, back then I was able to get on-the-spot reservations at Longmire, but the campsite availability meant an aggressive seven-day itinerary. Because I arrived by bus without my own vehicle, I was not able to cache, which meant I was packing really heavy and was not able to make my designated site the third night. A ranger checking my itinerary told me that I would need to leave the trail unless I could find someone to share campsites, which fortunately I was able to do. Moreover, my hiking partner the rest of way was not only generous in sharing his campsites, but also had roots in Maine, so we enjoyed one another’s company. The vertical is not to be taken lightly, pushing 45,000 ft in about 100 miles, IIRC? I suppose the other option is to run the route with a fanny pack, which has been done in under 24 hours by someone who used to post here, I think.