May 15th hike: i love the smell of clearcuts in the morning

4th of July Pass. Cooper hadn’t been feeling well all week and I felt that a nice romp though the woods would do him some good. Fortunately, from the moment we got out of the car he was his old self: biting, chasing, sniffing, pissing, and romping with what looked like a smile on his face.
This was a strange hike for an old tree hugger like me in that we were hiking down a clear cut. I was on an antler shed and mushroom hunting mission, and as far as clear cuts go, this one was actually quite nice. It had been years since the area had been logged and the shrubs and small trees had begun the re-growth process in a substantial and seemingly healthy way. There was elk scat everywhere but no sheds.
It really is weird for me to write this, but once I got to the bottom of the cut, I walked into one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It went from small shrubs, shit, and young trees to a cathedral of old-growth cedars and ferns. I walked into it in complete awe.
On the way back up I found six morels.