Wonderland Trail day 2

This morning had an auspicious start. We headed down on wobly legs to the Carbon River. Annie went down twice and Jennifer just missed a wasp nest hole in the ground, luckily only getting stung once. The hike down was under the towering peaks of Mother Mountain. We came to a swinging bridge crossing of the Carbon River. It really is not for those (me) who do not like heights. Upon crossing we headed up the canyon under the towering Northern Crags and were greeted with a tremendous view of the lowest glacier in the lower 48, the Carbon Glacier. We stopped several times along this 3 mile stretch right next to the glacier to watch the falling rocks. It was hard to concieve of this massive thing moving but we were witnessing the action.

Eventually we came to the meadows of Moraine Park. A massive set of meadows with gorgeous views and the first marmots we would see.

After a brutal end of the day climb we descended to Mystic Lake. We would camp just past this lake. We took off our boots and waded in the water. It was full of small frogs and tadpoles. Camp was much nicer and we met several other hikers whom we had seen throughout the day.