For George, pot-roast with boiled carrots, onion and potatoes really hit the spot after a day hiking near Seabeck on the Hood Canal.We left about 10:00 on Saturday morning, headed north to Port Orchard, and found the the Gold Creek Trailhead between Belfair and Seabeck. This is a popular hiking spot that also attracts mountain bikers and people who want to explore back-country on horseback.
We hiked as a light rain began to fall and I was tempted to worry a bit, because we weren't wearing rain-gear. But, other hikers came down the hillside, saying that the trail veers into deep woods where the trees provide a bit of shelter.
As we climbed, we noticed that berry-pickers were filling large buckets with wild huckleberries. I rumaged through my backpack, and found a few zip-lock bags. I could just see these berries glazed in plum sauce over some sliced and grilled yams! While I picked, George pulled them off the bushes and ate them.
To acquire any volume of berries, one must 'milk the berries', by pulling the hands down the branch in one long motion.
Just about everything falls into the bucket - leaves, immature berries, spiders, worms and bugs. But, it is fast work...until you get home and have to sort out the huckleberries. I swirl them around in a big bowl of water, and all the bugs and leaves float to the top.We collected berries as we walked along the trail, ending up at Gold Creek, where George saw an American dipper in a little brook that had dammed up . The American dipper catches all of its food in swiftly flowing streams by swimming and walking on the stream bottom. It is North America's only truly aquatic songbird.
We finished Gold Creek about 1:30, then headed over to the Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve near Seabeck. There we hiked the Margaret Trail, the River Trail Loop, and the Beach House Trail. These trails wind along mountain sides, through deep evergreen forests, groves of alder and big-leaf maple, and through an orchard. It was really dark in some areas of the forest, and since it was raining, I took very few photos.
We took the Beach House Trail down to Guillemot Cove. On a sunny day this beach has a magnificent view of the Olympic Mountains in the distance. It was named after the black and white Guillemot that inhabited this area around 1800.
This old cabin sits abandoned on the nature reserve, with the doors wide open. I peeked inside and walked around, careful where I stepped as I wasn't sure how sound the old floors were. Nothing remained except a few beds. The wood-burning stove was removed, and all the porcelain fixtures in the kitchen and bathroom were cracked. Tree branches poked through a hole in the roof, and pine needles and leaves were scattered everywhere. We met a Japanese couple on one of the trails who were filling big buckets with Chanterelle Mushrooms .The mushrooms were huge, and are considered one of the finest available, the 'Queen of the Forest'. All during our hike I peered under the trees hoping to find some, but all I found were golden autumn leaves that had fallen to the ground.
We finished our hiking about 3:30, then stopped for coffee and a meal at Barb's Cafe in the back of the General Store. The cafe sits right over the water, and offers a quaint view. 
Their specialty was home-baked pies, breads and rolls. George had the pot-roast, and I ordered a cup of crab chowder and half a turkey sandwich on sourdough bread. No words can describe how wonderful that meal was!
