Bushwacking: making one’s way through wild areas without following a designated path or trail.
And so we did, during a hike yesterday to and along the Huron River not far from my camp.
And it was wild!
The origins of the term harken to our country’s beginnings, when private individuals and “irregulars” attacked each other in “the bush.” Later, it was associated with guerilla warfare.
We supported each other rather than attack each other on this challenging hike. We “made war” with tangled shrubbery, slippery river rocks and steep slopes. It was worth it. Photos and captions follow.
The “regulars” of this hiking group eagerly take on challenging hikes. We had 17 hikers this day, led by someone with the right app on his phone to take us, literally, into the bush. Two newcomers were hindered by a bad ankle and wrong shoes, and we supported their alternative option.
After pushing through shrubbery and past old hemlocks, we came to an overlook…
…and had to scramble a bit, sometimes using trees for support, to walk out onto a narrow ledge.
Dried stumps and roots also added to the challenge. Sure-footedness was handy on this hike!
You can’t see it here, but the rugged river is below this overlook. Far below. We made our way down there…no photos of the descent, since I was too busy staying on my feet…
…and here it is. The Huron River. Not big, but very wild. Locals are familiar with the mouth of this river, where it enters Lake Superior. I’ve camped there many times myself, as mentioned elsewhere on this blog. But few go up-river this far. Because it’s hard to get to! And all the more special for that.
I and several others walked in the river itself, after switching from shoes or boots to water sandals. (I scolded myself for bringing the wrong ones.)
Some hikers took a snack break on the riverside (and one took a swim) while the rest of us…
…found our way along the rocky slate river wall, further upstream, to…
…a waterfall (that’s me in the bright yellow jacket)….
..and then a bit further, to a bigger waterfall, called “U-Turn Falls” because it does a sharp turn around that high ledge we were standing on earlier.
Like many, I enjoy “rock-scrambling”…but this was unusually challenging because of the uneven rock wall and, in the river bottom, both rugged boulders and occasionally slippery flat ones. This group is primarily in its 60s and 70s, and I was proud of us all. After climbing back up from the river…
…we switched from water shoes back to hiking shoes, and (for some) from wet clothes to dry ones…
….and stood one last time on the bluff overlooking the river as we planned the hike out. Rather, our leader planned it and we all fell in line. We may be bushwhackers, but most of us won’t do it alone! Back at Camp Many Moons, a mere 30-minute drive away….
…I admired the neat space we’ve created for a garage that will be built this fall. It looks clean now, with the freshly-piled dirt all covered in clean straw (and grass seed), but a few days ago…
…we were digging trenches to bring water and electricity to that garage….
…using this rented beast with an appropriate name, heavy and clumsy and hard to pull. Where the ground was hard, we had to both pull, or use the ‘dozer for extra leverage. (For more on the ground preps, see previous post.) After this and other “dirt chores,” I took a paddle and found a treat…
…a few juvenile bald eagles, fishing on the other side of the bay…
…with their parent (?) nearby. Bald eagles don’t mature until four years old. They’re a common sight and sound here, but the sight of juveniles was new to me. (Juvenile balds are often confused with golden eagles, which are rare here. I had to look it up to be sure of what I saw.) But I don’t have to cross the bay to remember why I’m here at all…why I’m digging in dirt yet again and continuing to develop this plot of land that was tree-choked eight years ago.
For this. The view in front of the house. I love a complex sky after a storm. It reminds me that even when clouds are dark, the wind will eventually whisk them away. Until they return again. Cycles…
For Many Moons 