Up at Thimbleberry lake, dad and I went out to a gravel bar, which I don’t like taking the path to- as it has a lot of salmonberries that lean over and get in the way.
I found what looked like a path through some tall grass, that I thought might be a shorter way back to the main trail, though it was a bit watery in places and went over my shoes if I stood around too long.
I pointed it out to dad, and he let me follow it back while he went back the way we came. The way we came was probably less brushy, and definitely shorter than the way I was taking, but I didn’t know that at the time.
Heading towards the slight opening in the trees that I saw, I went up further in the grass than the trail to avoid getting my feet as wet. I believe there was also a somewhat hidden creek around that area that I needed to avoid.
Further up, and just into the trees I found some bear tracks in the mud, they were headed the opposite direction so I wasn’t too worried and kept on walking. Though after that I figured that the path I was following most likely wasn’t made by people.
I did make a bit of noise while I was following the path, but it was mostly my normal crashing around through twigs and bushes, and the only thing different was some muttering. Which I doubt would’ve alerted any creatures of my presence, but I could be wrong.
After finding the tracks, I came upon another creek which I went down to check out before heading back to the path. There might’ve been a fish fry in it, but I couldn’t get close enough to see.
At one point while I was following the trail, it seemed to split in two. One doubling back in sort of in the direction of the main path, and one continuing forward. I followed the one heading back, but it became a dead-end and I went back through the brush to follow the other path.
Not long after that, it opened up and was actually fairly nice to walk though. I could hear some people walking by, and dad called after they’d passed. He sounded a ways away, but the next time he sounded closer, so I figured he was headed up the main trail closer to me.
The open spot continued on further, but I figured I’d gone up far enough and didn’t know how much further it would go, so I chose follow what looked like a path through the salmonberries.
I shuffled in backwards, not wanting to get a face full of brush and bugs/spiders, only to get a little confused and frustrated for a moment when I couldn’t seem to go further. Apparently it had taken a short turn to my right for no reason.
After that turn, it basically became a path for small critters that I would’ve had to belly-crawl through in order to avoid the brush. I needed to crouch at some point, though I can’t really remember why, and after that I started shoving my way through facing sideways, instead of backwards.
The brush was really thick, and not long before I reached the alders, apparently I’d gone up a log, because my foot slid down the side. If there hadn’t been such thick brush, it probably would’ve been a much more painful drop (though I also probably would’ve seen it before I fell).
Once I reached the alders, I knew that I was close to the main trail, and after a moment I could see dad through the trees. Thankfully, the alders weren’t all that brushy and I could just weave my way though them.
After making it back to the main trail, I took of my coat to shake it off, and later I did something similar with my hoody. Surprisingly, there were no bugs or spiders, so maybe all that thick brush kept them from clinging on.
Other notable things: I looked around and found a small toad when we were heading up. Creekbed had some water running down it. There were a couple of fish fry in a pool near the lake, on the gravel bar. There were a bunch of tiny moths in the tall grass.
July 8th 2020
