Attentive readers might have noticed some usually familiar faces have been absent from recent adventures. It turns out life happens. Here I am figuring life was all about hiking and there's other stuff getting in the way. How rude!
But as they say, when a door closes a window opens. In this case, Moosefish Junior has achieved a level of hiking competency and a willingness to adventure with his old man so he's been heading into the wilds with me more and more. More importantly, he seems to be enjoying it more and more.
On this early morning, we started in the dark and climbed quickly to one of my favorite destinations. Along the way, we found the sun rising through the mist, pikas like crazy, and the last of the season's blueberries.
Although it wasn't the blueberry harvest of times past (we were probably a week or two late), it was good enough to try one of my recent impulse buys: a blueberry rake (Amazon affiliate link). Imagine being able to pick blueberries as efficiently as a bear prepping for winter and not damaging the plants. It was amazing how effective this simple tool was on the low-lying berry bushes. In just a few minutes we collected a half liter full of berries. I can only imagine how many we could get during the peak of the harvest.
We saw no one until we returned to within a mile of the car. The boy declared it was the kind of place he would choose if he could only hike one place for the rest of his life. I'll admit it's a great spot, but I can't wait to show him what else is out there.
📍On the lands of the Wenatchi people.
