Day 127: Olallie Lake Resort to Red Wolf Pass

Fresh, wild berries, in various stages of ripeness, lined the trail: pale red thimbleberries, dark purple huckleberries, bright red raspberries, blackish purple blackberries. We helped ourselves to generous samples of tasty, sweet tart berries as we hiked.

We are not the only ones eating the berries. Bears gobble up large quantities of the tasty berries as they fatten up to prepare for winter hibernation. Several left mounds of berry filled scat near the trail, a reminder that bears are active in this area.

The trail meandered through forest all day, dropping into Warm Springs Creek in late afternoon, then climbing out steeply. Although I hoped to find camping on the east slope of Summit Butte or near Red Wolf Pass, the top of the ridge was densely forested, with a significant jumble of downed logs, branches, and sticks in between the trees. Moreover, I began to notice familiar piles of blackish, berry filled scat (bear scat), and was reluctant to camp somewhere with so much bear activity.

Finally, as the evening grew later, we decided to settle for a less than ideal camp: in the trees, near active bears, with plenty of downed logs nearby to attract ants and spiders. Aging tres creaked and groaned with each gust of wind, a sound like the rusty springs on an ancient porch swing. I tried to forget the sound of the tree crashing down the night we camped at Shelter Cove. Covering my head with my sleeping bag, I blocked out the squeaking of the moving trees and fell asleep.