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Day 1 - happy to be on the trail
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Our parking spot. We had to search to find this because of overlook construction at our planned parking spot.
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Our first view of the trail. Grassy with pine trees.
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½ mile in, starting to get into more dense forest.
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Starting down the first ravine. Very dense forest blocking most of the sun.
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It is hard to imagine that the seasonal water flow of this stream could carve the ravine we were in.
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The first of many rock formations on the hills on either side of the trail.
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A small waterfall.
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Another rock formation.
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A stream coming off the hillside joining the main creek near the bottom of the ravine
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Near our lunch site at the bottom of the valley we found this rock in the stream. Notice the layers of rock warn away by the water.
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Our first night's campsite. It was a nice level site but there was no source of water and a natural gas well was nearby.
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Another note about our campsite. After setting up camp we found a small trail and followed it to a tree with a small clearing around the base.
The tree was used by bears for scratching and the tallest scratches were higher than we could reach.
Despite the promising signs we unfortunately did not see any bears that night.
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Day 2 - finally relaxed and in a good hiking mood
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The trail heading back down into a valley from the ridge we climbed up to the day before.
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A section of older growth in the forest. Very open with little undergrowth.
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This is a small clearing we found at the bottom of the valley before entering a dense Hemlock area ahead.
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The trees in this valley were so dense that very little was growing underneath.
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Jason after crossing the creek at the valley floor.
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Greg walking on the trail.
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The trees thinned out and the area became thick with small trees competing for space.
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Raccoon tracks by the Creek.
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Mystery Track, possibly bear, notice the "heal" at the bottom and "toes" and possible claw marks above.
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Bobcat Tracks
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A nice section of forest at the valley floor before starting our climb up the next ridge.
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This tree really caught my eye, it's white bark contrasted with the dark surrounding leaves.
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Bright red leaves on a tree halfway up the side of a mountain.
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A view from a level spot on the trail halfway up from the valley.
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Another view from the same spot.
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This picture attempts to show how steep the trail was up the sides of the mountains.
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An amazing tree that started growing in a crack on top of this rock and stretched it's roots to find the soil below.
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A Cabin owned by a local sportsman's club. This was at the far end of the Cranberry Swamp side trail loop.
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Cranberry Swamp
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Cranberry Swamp
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Our second night's campsite.
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This campsite had more to offer than the first night. Plenty of level ground and plenty of water. We were between the large creek coming out of Cranberry swamp and a smaller stream coming off the ridge we had just descended.
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The pictures from Day 3 show the waterfall and pool below it that were beside our site. There were also many flat rocks to provide durable surfaces for cooking and plenty of firewood for a small fire.
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Day 3 - full camera disk and dead camera battery
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The waterfall and pool beside our campsite.
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A closer view of the waterfall.
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Photos
