Bearhead Mountain — Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021

Started hiking with my dog Ona around 9:30am in cloudy and misty conditions. The trail is in great shape in some areas, but in others it is very narrow and soft under foot on steep hillsides. My pants got soaked from the wet brush encroaching on the tread. At what I think would be the first big view of Rainier on a sunny day, I looked up to see a big bear booty disappearing into the foliage. A few steps on, I saw a fresh pile of scat in the middle of the trail. Despite having my bear spray and seeing the bear run off, I decided to turn around. If the conditions were sunny and guaranteed great views or if I had been hiking in a group, I may have continued. It just didn’t seem worth the risk today. Overall, I enjoyed getting out and being in the lush forest on Bearbutt—I mean Bearhead Mountain.