Bears & berries on the Lemei Lake Trail, 9/30/22

This forum is used to share your experiences out on the trails.
Post Reply
skyline
Posts: 5
Joined: April 6th, 2022, 3:17 pm

Bears & berries on the Lemei Lake Trail, 9/30/22

Post by skyline » October 4th, 2022, 8:45 am

We got a late start for a day hike, arriving at the East Crater trailhead around noon last Friday. Mid-50s and sunny, you couldn't ask for better hiking weather. That being said, that first stretch to Junction Lake can feel a little monotonous, and at one point my partner wondered aloud, "Why do we go hiking?" Our dog loves to hike, I pointed out. Plus, there might be berries. Sure enough, we came across some very good huckleberries at the rise just before Junction Lake, and the collective mood quickly improved. Over the years our dog has learned to forage for berries himself, so in these situations he's always content to take a break.

As usual, we ran into a few hikers at the lake. In that particular wilderness, at least on weekdays, I like how the trails feel mostly quiet while the lakes are social. We took a proper break on the "bench" to the west of the lake, and decided we were feeling energetic enough to go all the way to the viewpoint below Lemei Rock.

Off we went.

Image

It was on the edge of one of the small meadows just before the trail drops to Lemei Lake when we saw the first bear. Our dog was the first to hear it, crashing around to our left. All of us stopped moving at the same time, with the bear now sitting in the shade of a tree that was maybe 50 or 75 feet away from us. For what was probably only a few seconds, the bear stayed there in the shade. I could just make out the silhouette of its ears, and its big head. Just as we slowly began moving along the trail, the bear went crashing off into the woods. It had been a perfect bear encounter: exciting but not frightening. There was the added bonus that this was the first time my partner had seen a bear, so the hike had gone from pleasant to legendary just like that.

More than anything, the bear had seemed sort of clumsy and goofy. Instead of startling them, how cool would it be to come across a bear that's just going about the day? we wondered. It was maybe twenty minutes later, on the edge of one of the small meadows a little ways past Lemei Lake, when my partner saw what she thought was a second bear. There was a large solid black block off to our left, partially obscured by a sapling. "I'm pretty sure that's a rock," I said. "No, that's definitely a bear," she said. She was right. Bear #2 lumbered up off the ground and went crashing into the woods. Bear #2 had just been going about the day, eating berries and sitting rock-like in a meadow. (Still seemed kind of goofy.)

Amazing! Two bears in twenty minutes. My partner pointed out that this would be a good premise to a horror film, the creeping sense of unease after you hit like the seventh or eighth bear.

The rest of the climb was bear-less but lovely, with plentiful berries all the way to the viewpoint. Having hiked there before from the trailheads on the east side of the wilderness, it was fun to have gone the long way up there. We took a proper snack break looking over Wapiki Lake but didn't linger, realizing it was going to be nearly dark by the time we got back to the car. Filtered some water at Cultus Lake, which we had to ourselves, surprisingly. There was that late-in-the-day feeling that we were the last ones on the trail.

On our return along the Lemei Lake Trail, the color in the meadows was fantastic. No bears on that stretch this time, but rather some deer who seemed pretty unconcerned about us. All day long we'd been hearing constant buzzing, and, with only a mile or so to go back to the East Crater trailhead, my partner got stung on her calf by a yellow jacket, and possibly our dog on his snout. "Run!" I yelled. (I was in front and had probably stirred the yellow jackets up.) We ran. Thankfully, no more stings. Unlike me, my partner isn't allergic, so it could even be argued that our lucky streak had continued. Seemed strange that it happened at dusk, with the temperatures dropping. Her leg swelled a bit but she was a good sport about it. As for our dog... our dog is always a good sport about everything. Back at the trailhead we caught the sunset. All in all, a pretty great day, a real classic. Wait... why do we go hiking?
Attachments
PXL_20220930_230023374.jpg

User avatar
bobcat
Posts: 2764
Joined: August 1st, 2011, 7:51 am
Location: SW Portland

Re: Bears & berries on the Lemei Lake Trail, 9/30/22

Post by bobcat » October 9th, 2022, 1:46 pm

Great to see the bears! They must be in their final fattening up phase now. Indian Heaven is looking good!

Post Reply