On our last adventure on Rampart Ridge Treen demonstrated her ability to pick berries like a bear. The only thing hindering her was the sparse distribution of the fruit. <foreshadowing>Imagine if we could find somewhere the berries were so thick you could hardly walk without stepping on them.</foreshadowing>
Cave Ridge is another of our usual haunts. Going the long way gives us the chance to spend some quality time in the woods and the upper portions give us great views. Clearly the best part on this day, though, were the berries.
The exact location of this berry field remains classified. It's not on the usual trail or the back side trail or a even a sensible alternative approach. How we found it still confounds me, but we spent more time there than on the summit.
Matt was picking for his kids. I had a bundle until my hand started bleeding and I called it quits. The dogs, though, were like machines. They were heads down moving through the brush stripping the tiny branches bare. Treen was particuarly efficient, only pausing when she had a leaf go up her nose causing her to sneeze.
As much as we would have liked to stay and make ourselves sick on berries we had families to attend to. Descending meant we had to hike back into the clouds and tromp through the flooded trails back to the car. Fall is a wet time of year, but the berries love it and that means we love it, too.
