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| Not a lot of space to pitch a tent, but I made it work. |
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| The morning air smelled of smoke. |
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| And smoke misted the distance. |
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| These really look like blueberries, but until I can positively identify them, I must leave their tempting blue roundness alone. |
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| Not exactly ideal trail for a healing ankle sprain. |
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| A distant waterfall along the ridge. |
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| More of those “donkey roller” rocks on the trail. |
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| Another waterfall, with an interesting artifact. |
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| In this close-up, you can see the huge boulder stuck in the channel. |
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| I know it’s not a long trek, but I’m really tired of hiking slower than Ambrose. |
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| I hope a formal reroute gets in place here for next year. The current one is a bit difficult to parse. |
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| If we had approached the crossing from this side initially, we would have been momentarily fooled into thinking the Queens River had dried up. |
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| Instead of merely shifting its course by about 20 feet laterally. |
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| Getting closer to the last ford – the last time Ambrose will shuttle my pack across to protect my ankle. |
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| This uprooted tree now marks the crossing. I initially sat beneath it to wait for Ambrose to make his trips, but then I looked up at the rocks held precariously in place by dead roots and dirt and moved out of the potential line of fire. |
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| Maybe next year I’ll bring an ax out and spend the day whacking my way through this. |
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| Now that’s more like it – soft grass, nothing too tall to hide rocks in. So of course the trail doesn’t stay like this long. |
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| One last tricky section through the bog, then it’s easy trails. |
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| Ambrose climbing up to the high road reroute. |
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| I should be in front! I’m supposed to be the hare in this pairing. |
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| One last little stream crossing. |
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| We made it! |
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| The water’s much lower than it was back in June. |
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| There are still far more cars here than what I consider normal for this trailhead. |
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| The next day, while driving home, I was, as usual, keeping my eye out for wildlife beside the road. Now, usually, when I see what I think is a bear, it turns out to be a burned out stump.
Not this time. |
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| From the safety of our cage – that is, car – we came to a stop to observe the bear. |
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| If he or she wanted to cross the road, they were welcome to do so without our roaring car interfering. |
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| Instead, she or he went behind some bushes, so we pulled forward to get a better look. As you do. |
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| This one’s my favorite of the pictures. |
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| And then she or he ambled up the slope, disappearing over the ridge and we finished the drive home. |