This summer, Mark and I have become experts on finding the “B” trails. In order to push the hordes of people crowding onto the “A” trails in the Cascades, the national forest has instituted a pass system. Before you go, you have to go online and get a pass. I loathe on line passes. The process drives me nuts trying to find something for a specific day and place. So, we avoid the pass trails and head for the B walks. Like the Blue highways, they are less traveled and reward a slower pace.
A B trail:
Ø Does not need a permit.
Ø Has a small parking lot—often empty or with one other, dusty, car
Ø Often has a weirdly steep spot, or a long stretch where nothing changes, or a few downed logs to clamber over.
Ø Roams along the shoulders of the Cascades, rather than following ridgelines to beautiful vistas.
Ø Passes small, pond-like lakes that reflect the surrounding trees, not a peak.
Ø Is never busy. We have gone all day without seeing another person.
Ø
Has a whole series of small pleasures and observations. We consider scat full of hair and bones, giant shelf fungi, ants creating nests in the center of dying trees, burn patterns, and blooming plants.
Ø No one has eaten the berries!
Ø Blessedly quiet. A groaning tree. Birds. The wind.
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