It was time for the annual "Brain Trust" hike of select cottage ultralight manufacturers. This year we turned our attention to the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier.

Ron Moak was recovering from a CDT adventure, Brian Frankle broke his leg a couple of days before the trip, and Ron Bell couldn't get away. So that left Glen and Henry Shires, who, come to think of it, were the only two to finish the epic Lake Tahoe thru-hike that comprised the 2007 Brain Trust hike. So, Glen was at Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City, and then flew to Seattle. Henry flew in within a few minutes, a car was rented, and we headed to Mount Rainier. The plan: hike the Wonderland Trail, a trail of 93 miles that goes around Mt. Rainier. The Mt. Rainier website recommends taking 14 days to complete the trip, with multiple food resupplies. And we saw plenty of people doing exactly this, lumbering along with huge packs. We did it in 4.5 days, averaging 22 miles a day, with our longest being the last day at 27 miles. The trail is a good workout, with over 20,000 feet of vertical elevation gain. Of course, anytime you go out with Henry, you are guaranteed a good cardio session.

	Henry loads up on water before hitting the trail. We left Longmire at 1:30 p.m. First destination was Maple Creek at 11 miles in.		Henry crossing the Nisqually River. Since Rainier is ringed by glaciers, there are frequent crossings of streams and rivers, on bridges ranging from a log with one flat side to full-on suspension bridges. This arrangement of a log and a handrail on one side was fairly typical.
	Before we could even make camp the first day, we ran into longtime Gossamer Gear customer Nona Rowat, a serious contender for the owner of the most packs from GG. She was hiking the trail clockwise with her husband Peter, who was geared up for an attempt on the summit of Mt. Rainier.		Henry admires the wildflowers. With snow still in the higher passes, we passed through multiple climate zones a day, multiple times, as we climbed over passes and descended to valleys. The flowers were amazing, often perfuming the air around us.
	Henry's shot of Reflection Lake.		We were blessed with beautiful weather on the trip, and had plenty of views of Mt. Rainier. The summit was often wreathed in clouds, as at over 14,400 feet it makes it's own weather.
	Waterfalls were a relatively plentiful feature of the trip.		Henry making tracks. The second day was a big day, 22 miles, and included Panhandle Gap.
	More wildflowers.		And more wildflowers. The variety was amazing.