Now, it belongs to the federal government and never gets plowed, but it was disked this year as part of a habitat improvement project and some of the relics have surfaced again. The upper end of the field is fringed with tall cane, but I know there has to be a good trail to the water. I'm finding lots of sign of elk, tracks and droppings, and somewhere, they are going through. Sure enough, at the very top of the field there's a good trail towards the river. Once through the cane and down the bank, there's a remarkably level stretch for half a mile or more that runs upriver parallel to the water.
Floods sweep it regularly and there's no underbrush, but the big trees remain.
There's an almost cathedral hush here, far from any road or houses, sheltered by the trees, and out of season for floaters on the water I can see flashing just ahead. The ground is soft, deep in rich black soil, an accumulation of silt and rotted wood from the deadfalls. The trail of the elk is easily followed but I also find where something, feral hogs probably, has been rooting in the earth. Yet, I'll admit I'm also a little leery of them and have thought about carrying a hand gun on these solitary expeditions. I saw a mother bear with three cubs one time on the edge of the field.