After the bog I went in a westerly direction, towards the cliffs, to an extensive stand of old growth black spruce and balsam fir that Andrew had explored on the ascent. The average bole of the trees was about 12 inches, fairly large, and most likely grew in since the devastating forest fires 130 years ago.

There was more witch hobble. It turns out you can kind of work in harmony with if you relax a bit. Of course, it helps to have gravity on your side going down through it. You can be just like a moose and bull your way down. I’ve skied in these glades in deep snow and the hobble bushs are not visible or a problem. It’s presence in the glades is evidence of the large amount of sunlight that that is available to plants growing on the forest floor here in comparison to the relatively low amount of sunlight reaching the floor in the more dense coniferous-evergreen stands.