Another late-start today. We want to do everything as quick as we can, so I run down to the bridge to see if our precarious bear-bags of food made it through the night. Yup..they're still dangling over the river. Great. Now I just have to untie all the knots I got in my rope in the dark last night.

But the knots came out easier than I expected, and I made breakfast on a rock near the river. Bob and Sarah finished packing the tents and came down to pump water and eat breakfast. We sat in the open stretch of white-rocks rounded by the river, with an amazing 360 view upward and around this basin of the mountains that we traversed yesterday.

After a few morning pictures around camp now that the view was clear, we set off and upward toward the Cowlitz divide. This meant steady climbing all morning and early afternoon, through wildflowers. The views of the surrounding mountains were stupendous, especially the ones of Rainier, so we stoped and took a zillion photos.

But the views kept getting better, and we needed frequent stops because the climb maintained steepness a long way. But it was worth it. We finally hit the divide...a meadow atop the mountain with 360 views encompassing the Cascade Range in the distant south, as well as the pass to the north that we'd done the previous day...and of course Rainier.

We took off our packs for group photo-time, and snacks. Have I told you about the apple? On the first day of the trip Sarah had brought apples for us on the van ride to the mountain. I was full so I saved it in the lid of my pack for dinner, then it got saved till the next day, and so on. Apple was snug in my cup in the lid of my pack for 4 days now. It came out for every meal, but was always "saved" for the next meal. Apple was a running gag. Apple became the mascot. But Apple was about to fulfill its destiny.

Random guy comes up over the divide at fast speed with light pack. He says the hiker hello and drops pack to have a chug of water and wait for his friend to catch up. In the usual exchange of "Where you headed -- Where'd you come from" info he said they just doing this side of the mountain for the weekend -- about 18 miles each day. His friend was planning a speed-hike around the whole thing and just scouting now, but was pretty far behind on this latest uphill. And this was the high point, and the best place to rest and have a snack.

Want an apple? I inquired.

Bob and Sarah laughed and repeated the offer in jest, but random guy's face lit up. "Yeah." He'd been eating dehydrated stuff and traveling really light, so our mascot made his day. And my pack got a few ounces lighter.

His friend finally appeared, saying he'd been resting lower down, so random guy said thanks and headed off down the other side of the divide. We packed up and headed down as well. It was all downhill, through forest and mosquitoes, for the next 2 hours. A few more glimpses of rainier were had, as were a few rocky rest-stops and a hurried tuna lunch.

Finally we made it to the sign that indicated our 1.3 mile eastward deviation from the Wonderland Trail. We were headed deeper into old-growth, to the little-used Ollalie campground.

That last mile went by quick, and our only obstacle was a bow-beamed bridge that we hastened accross 1 at a time lest it give out. A small sign on the other side pointed to the vacant Ollalie campground. The best site of the 3 was the first one to the right. We had ample room for 2 tents, a "patio" type area right on the creek bank, and trees to stretch a clothsline accross.

This was to be "laundry night," so as soon as we got the packs off we got our feet in the creek...FREEZING cold. Numbing. Then we washed socks and assorted garments as best as we could without being unkind to the creek and environment. Clothing was hung, and then I rushed to cook while Sarah and Bob pitched tents.

Tonights dinner was a hearty mangling of mashed potatoes with dehydrated chicken and vegetables. I boiled as much water as I could and dumped all the ingredients in. It bubbled like lava. It spurted up at me. It was frightening to stir. It was yummy though. We were warm and full. Then we had dessert too...3-berry cobbler (dehydrated berries and grahm-cracker cumbles, reconstituted in some boiling water to a pie-like consistancy). SO yummy. But bears would love it too. Lucky we had a bear pole tonight. We were back to the 30-pound bag-raising circus act, in the dark. Why wasn't the food bag getting any lighter?!

Sarah and Bob exchanged shoulder massages while we tried to come up with silly song-verses to describe our trip so far. That quickly degenerated and there's luckily no record of whatever delerious rhymes we sputtered. We all soon drifted to a happy sleep, confident our clothes would dry by morning In the cool night forest, without sunlight. We were so very wrong.

NEXT - Day 5...wet clothes and Maple Creek