Mmmmm...

These are Mountain Ash berries on scrubby little bushes. I didn't know that they came in anything other than plain bright orange, like the big trees have. The brilliant cerise color just pops right out of the landscape, no? This reminds me of the time in Bible class when a couple of us got the non-stop giggles and were sent outside to pull ourselves together. Not that going outside helped. Why? Because we'd been watching the pretty little birds outside flitting about. (Disney music playing in the background.) Flitting and flying, lighting on the branches. Or missing the branch entirely. Or falling over while standing on the ground. Or nearly hitting the windows but veering off at the last second. Because they were drunk on rather old Mountain Ash berries.

The "destination" of the hike was worth it. The journey provided plenty of berries to spur us on. Slurp. I hauled Q on the way up, a friend hauled him down. A lucky thing since S, little trooper that she is, needed a piggy-back ride for a good half-mile at the end. My mom shot most of these--I'm so happy she has her camera.