"Hello bear, hello bear" I called out while crashing through the heavy bush. We must be getting really close to Ault Lake or at least the large clear-cut area north of the lake, I recall thinking to myself. Looking down a steep slope above a ravine, I finally got a glimpse of what lay ahead. "What's this I see?" It seemed impossible at the time, but I could see a sliver of Downton Lake and it appeared disturbingly closer than I expected it to be. More importantly, how did we end up with the lake in front of us when it should be to our left? Eli and I had been dutifully following flagging no more than 15 minutes ago. How did we screw this up? My altimeter read 5000-ft - lower than Ault Lake and possibly also below a key logging road that would lead us safely back to the car. We had maybe two hours of daylight left and were in no mood to spend a cold night clinging to a steep, bear infested brush slope.

Full report here.

Breaking from a five or six-year tradition of camping and surfing at LaPush (WA) over the Labor Day weekend, Agata and I instead pointed the car in the opposite direction. Forget it - try as we may there was just no way to coax even a few hours of sunshine into the coastal forecast. The Cascades fared little better so we chose to go east...way east. Based on Paul's suggestion, we decided to make Idaho's Chimney Rock our primary objective while at the same time taking in the sun and sights at a relaxed pace on our way there and back.

The sound of distant rock fall was at once frightening and a relief. I turned to look at Eric and could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn't thrilled with the prospect ahead of us. What happened to our motivation? Was it a full moon the night before? Was that why we had the nightmares? Dreams of falling, drowning and most bizarre of all a mountain goat jumping off our heathery perch only to fall to its death. Where did the two cowboys on horseback come from? Why were they asking about the dead goat? It was an odd night indeed. No one stirred when the dreaded alarm clock rang. It felt as if I'd gotten all of five minutes of sleep.

Full report here.