Today we hiked a hilly stretch of the Buckeye Trail starting at the Jaite Trailhead. My good friend, Jess, is in town from Seattle and joined us.
Although it’s been hot and dry for almost a week, the trail was surprisingly muddy. The woods were thick and cool and still. We occasionally heard a busy woodpecker in the distance. When the trees parted for a sunny meadow, we could hear bugs buzzing in the grasses and birds singing from the bushes, but we didn’t spot much wildlife.
Chuck often hears things moving in the undergrowth. She tilts her head sharply from side to side and dives in for the catch! Once today, she came up with a tiny snake. She quickly dropped it and moved on. A few more times, she executed her signature move and came up empty. (Whew!)
We got back to the trailhead and were drinking some water before loading into the car. There was only one other vehicle in the little lot, a motorcycle off to the side.
As I stooped to pick up Chuck’s water bowl, I noticed that there was a man astride the bike. He was slumped forward with his head angling so far to the side that it nearly touched the ground. He was wearing thick black leathers in the hot sun.
I signaled Jess and we both watched him for a moment. He wasn’t moving. We didn’t want to approach him ourselves, so we drove to the ranger station just up the road and asked a ranger to check on him. We circled back to make sure the ranger found him and then headed home.
When we got home, I realized that Chuck’s eye was terribly swollen! I think it was probably a reaction to a bee that stung her snout when she was diving into the grass. I kept an eye on her and she never had breathing problems and the swelling gradually subsided.
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