Bear Meadow and The Little Voice

 So on that last, wonderful and so far rare day off from work, I was taking a walk out at the

Eagle River Nature Center.  I found the little cabin, and began walking back from the cabin to the main trail.  Alaska is mossier than I thought when you get into the woods.  Don't get me wrong

I like it, but I guess I didn't expect the carpet of green on the rocks and trail in the spring.

 

Back on the beaten path, there was a pretty wide swath of trail blazed out, and a pretty regular stream of people going through.  Because I am ever so cautious and smart-like-that, I decided to take the road less travelled and cut over to what is called the Dew Mound trail where there would be less people. 

Now this was more like it.  A little more like what you expect in the wilderness.  Alaska seems to have a lot more yellow-green than forest green right now...am guessing there is more greening up to come, but the color palette was interesting all the same.

After a few hundred yards, the sound of children, barking dogs, and people faded away.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  THIS was what the woods were supposed to sound like.  The trill of birds.  The snapping of a branch.  Followed by the deafening chatter of the little voice inside my head.  "You really are far away from everyone now."  That's right little voice, and this is just how we like it.  "You remember last time we came you promised to buy bear spray...but we don't have bear spray."  Relax little voice, we will pick some up next time, it will be fine.  A moment of peace.  "We've been walking for an awfully long time, and this trail doesn't seem well used.  You know if there was a bear it would be hard to see here."  Shhhhh...little voice....this is not the time....we are probably half way between the old trail and the new.  "You did notice on the map that this trail makes up the north boundary of the area called Bear Meadow right?"  Shut up little voice, you are not helping things.  "Did you hear that?"  Freeze frame and a nervously analytical moment.  Just the swooshing of the camera bag against the jacket in this very very quiet wood I told the little voice.

I will say I was a little relieved to hit Dew Mound Trail.  No bears were sighted, and hopefully no bears sighted ME.  Next time we will have the bear spray.  On Dew Mound Trail, I turned back to the nature center hoping for the wide open clearing.  I was met with a well defined trail...with thick brush growth right up to the edges of the trail, making any depth of vision virtually impossible.  It also didn't leave a lot of space should one meet up with an unexpected critter on the trail.  By this point I was missing the sound of those voices, and I wasn't sure if it would feel less eerie to turn back and go back through the silent untraveled woods, or plug along the moderately travelled thickly encroaching wood ahead. 

Forward felt less creepy, so on I went.

 

And on and on and on.  Finally after some distance, I heard some bells jingling!  Bear bells!  Fellow hikers were coming my way.  A big dog came charging down the path and jumped up on me, slobbered a bit, and instilled a bit of general chaos to the scene.  "Nice to see some other people," I said to the oncoming dog-led group.  "You're pretty brave walking alone," they said.  "Pretty stupid" the little voice said.  Touche little voice, I said, as I turned and took a snapshot of the view behind me and I headed back to the nature center, the car, people and civilization.  Next time we'll have bear spray on board I told the little voice...and stop being such a chicken.