Mist rose from the surface of the lakes in a ghostly cloud as I broke down my tent in the pale dawn. Radek and I departed the campsite together but his longer strides quickly sped him ahead and out of my sight. The thick layer of fog that had settled into the low valleys overnight burned off slowly beneath the rising sun, leaving a cornucopia of tiny lakes dotting the landscape. Hoping to catch Radek for lunch, I stepped off the trail at the larger Charlton Lake but he was nowhere to be seen. With my tent laid out to dry in the sun, I slowly ate my tortillas and cheese on a rock outcrop by the shore, the peaceful silence only broken by someone’s dog splashing around in the water.
Disappointed to have lost Radek, I continued on with the thought of finding him at camp in the evening. The trail wound through dense forest and between innumerable ponds brimming with plant life. My mood brightened dramatically when I discovered a patch of huckleberries next to the path, and I stopped to taste some of the juicy dark purple fruits. Berry bushes lined the trail for the next several miles. My pace slowed considerably as I stopped every few feet to pick and eat more of them, filling my bottomless hiker stomach with nature’s bounty.
Russell on the Road 