6.1 miles, 1400' gain, 2500' descent

(7.8 miles including my Bald Rock side trip)

The sun was out. The views were big. The trail was magnificent. The day was great.

Remember how I said earlier that the section from Summerland to Panhandle Gap is my favorite of them all? I am reconsidering. It's possible that this part of the Wonderland, running along the top of the Cowlitz Divide, might be even finer.

First a climb, with beautiful views backward over the basin of Indian Bar. The summit of Rainier gradually came into sight behind me. Then all of a sudden, it's Mount Adams to the south! And the Tatoosh Range to my right, and the Cowlitz Chimneys to my left. Ridge hikes are the best, and this is a long ridge with a long trail running all the way down it. Undulations aplenty along the way, with always so much to see in every direction.

As this was a relatively short day, I decided to include a side trip to check out Bald Rock.

Back on the Wonderland, I descended into the forest, turned off onto the Cowlitz Divide Trail, and became thirsty. I knew there would be no water sources from Indian Bar to shortly before Olallie Creek, so had made sure to fill my full 3 liter carrying capacity that morning, but I sweated a lot during the scramble to Bald Rock and had drunk it all. By the time I made it to the first tiny trickle of a stream crossing the path, I was acting like the hero of an H. Rider Haggard novel who had reached the oasis after crossing the desert, flinging himself to the ground crying "Water! Water! It's not a mirage, we are saved after all!"

Olallie Creek camp is a quiet spot in the forest. The creek is small and visually unspectacular but runs right next to the campsites, providing a beautifully babbling background beside which to <can't think of a synonym for sleep that alliterates here>