The Mountaineers' general membership meeting (& huckleberry festival) was at the chalet tonight--this year we held it in honor of long-time member Lorna Ream who recently passed away. It was a very nice potluck dinner, and several people shared great stories about Lorna and some of the amazing climbs she participated in over the years.
I got up to the chalet early to work on making it look pretty (and smell pretty!) before everyone got there. Then I headed up to the parking lot by Cook's Cabin to try my third trailrun in four days since my injury all the way back in June. This was another case of plans going awry, but what followed was also pretty cool. I wanted to run to the summit of Mount Kit Carson, then take the connector trail (170) across to intersect the Day Mountain trail (130), and then finish the loop by taking the Kit Carson Loop back to the parking lot. Instead, I heard a loud crashing up ahead of me at the 1/2-way point and looked up to see a cute little black bear cub climbing a tree!
I had no idea where his mother was. I see no shame in talking to wild animals (or plants, or bugs) so I said "Little baby black bear, where is your mother?" At that, he climbed back down and ran down the hill. I assume that must have been his way of telling me where his mother was, but just to be on the safe side I turned around and went back the way I came.
The distance was still the same (7 miles of running...okay, more like wogging...the darn calf still hurts so I still walk the steep sections and average 9-minute pace for the rest), and it was great to see a baby bear and live to tell about it. I knew that seeing a bear on that section of trail was a strong likelihood--the huckleberries back there are fantastic, but hardly any people venture out that far. In fact, this is the fourth or fifth bear sighting I have had on that same trail--perhaps the cub is the kid of the bear I saw there last year. I only wish I had my camera with me for the run! That would be cool to have coyote, moose, and bear photos in just a few short days...although the week isn't over yet!
After the run I picked up my backpack for a short huckleberry hike (2.5 round trip) before the potluck started. By the time I hiked back down the trail I only had about 45 minutes of picking time before I needed to hike back up, but I still found about 1.5 cups. They were good on trail 170 tonight.
Today's total mileage: 9.5 miles
August total mileage: 172.65 miles
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