I captured this image near the top of Little Stony Man in Shenandoah National Park. It was a cool and wet day. The weather nearly caused me to cancel my plans but I’m glad I didn’t.
Continue reading “Hiking In The Rain”Hiking In The Rain
Solitude and Stillness: Reflections on a Summer Hike
As I pull into the parking lot, I realize this won’t be one of those days when I have the trails to myself. That’s fine. Even when the lot is full, this park never feels crowded. With miles of trails traversing hilly, wooded terrain, I’ll see other hikers but won’t feel like they’re encroaching on my solitude.
Solo hiking comes with a range of emotions. It can be a wonderful escape, with no concern about how far or fast others want to hike, or what they’ll think every time I stop to look at a bird or a mushroom. I can ramble through the park at my own pace. But it can also be lonely. I’ve had plenty of experiences I wished I could share with someone else. Still, hiking alone leaves a lot of room for reflection and can become almost meditative for me.
Continue reading “Solitude and Stillness: Reflections on a Summer Hike”Mysterious Forest
It’s notoriously hard to get a good weather forecast for Shenandoah National Park. The park is over 100 miles long and the closest cities and towns are at least 1,000′ lower than the ridge line.
I checked the weather before leaving home. The forecast for a nearby town was for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the upper 70’s. There was a slight chance of rain so I grabbed my rain jacket on the way out the door.
As I reached the foothills of the mountains it began to rain. “Not to worry,” I thought. I had my rain gear and the trailhead is 20 miles north of the entrance station. The weather there could be completely different.
I entered the park in a steady rain with temperatures 15 degrees lower than I expected. The drive to the trailhead was mostly inside clouds intent on shedding their moisture as they crossed the Appalachian Mountains.
When I arrived at the trailhead the rain was slow but steady. Having already driven over two hours to hike this trail, I decided to don my rain gear and make the best of it. As they say “there’s no bad weather, only bad gear.”
About 15 minutes into my hike the clouds still enshrouded the mountains but the rain had stopped. The vistas I came to see were clouded in but it was still a good day and left me with a reason to come back another time.
There weren’t many dramatic views that day but the weather gave the mountains a peaceful and mysterious quality.
Tolkien Forest
While hiking on a foggy and rainy day in the mountains I started to feel like I walked into a Tolkien novel.
The day I met Tessa
This little Woodland Box Turtle and I briefly shared a hiking trail in Powhatan State Park earlier this month. Encountering wildlife, even a small, humble turtle, always makes me feel more connected and brings me a sense of joy and awe.
I prompted ChatGPT to write a short story about a turtle and a photographer meeting on a hike and here’s what it came up with.
Continue reading “The day I met Tessa”Grand Teton Peaks
The views of the Grand Teton range are spectacular enough on their own. Throw in a few blooming flowers in the foreground and it’s hard to imagine a better landscape opportunity.
Black Bear in Meadow
A black bear forages for food among the wildflowers and fallen logs in a woodland meadow of Grand Teton National Park.
Colorful Fungus on Log
This fallen log, in Pocahontas State Park, near Richmond, Virginia, forms the basis for quite an ecosystem of colorful fungus and lichen.
Lichen Bloom
Sometimes it’s the little things in nature that really catch my eye. This lichen was growing on the side of a very large pine tree. I approached the tree to get a closer look at something else when I noticed the tiny, bright red blooms on the lichen. Who knew that lichen actually bloomed?
Melt Off
As I hiked past this puddle of melting snow I stopped to look at the reflections in it. Snow was falling off the trees in clumps and caused ripples in the puddle.