My fingers encountered hair too short to be tangled, but no tools of a mechanic's trade.
My fingers encountered grass roots, then, and I slowed way down.
At last, my fumbling fingers encountered something I was sure of.
His fingers encountered a hard surface which a fingernail told him was real wood.
His fingers encountered an opening and he plunged through it.
He tried to scratch; his fingers encountered only bare rock.
His fingers encountered a wire, which he followed to the base of a desk lamp.
A little further down, his fingers encountered a rectangular metal shape.
He reached under the dashboard until his fingers encountered a smooth surface.
His fingers encountered the bar at the end of the grating.