I took a hike in the woods this afternoon (would you believe, we had temperatures in the 70's!!) Best day that I've played hookey from work on, so far. Though there is a ton of runoff and melting snow that made most of the woods a soppy mess, I still got out there for an hour or so.. but it was reeeeally windy!! So here are the fruits of my labor..

A general view. Pine forest, mostly hemlock.

Sun through trees:


Sad to see some of the tallest ones falling; but that is the cycle of Nature.

Salamander Falls (I named it myself!)

This is known as Monkey Creek on a map, bu I call it Toadwood Creek.

Here is a place I call My Spot. I found it in 2002 shortly after we moved here; someone had built a weird teepee that's about 4 feet tall, out of sticks, and a circle of stones next to it, near a tree stump beside a natural pool (like a small pond in the woods.) Mark laughed at first seeing it, asking me how tough it was to build.. I laughed back at him and said I didn't put it there.. we still have no idea who or what did this. Since I am Wiccan, this is a very spiritual place to me. The longest stick in the teepee is about 8 feet long.



The Pool

And the Circle of stones.. I am actually tempted to dig under these and see if maybe someone buried something here!

One final view before we say goodbye..