Beautiful Morning

Much time has passed since I went on my nice hike last week, but it was so awesome I just had to share it.

I've been reading the Cloudland Journal and it made me realize how much I missed hanging out in the woods. It is one of the best forms of excercise, plus you get to see such wonderful things. I went first thing in the morning on Sunday morning October 1st. (I say first thing in the morning, but since I had worked the night before it was actually the last part of my day). The temperatures were cool, and the fog was abundant.
The trail I hiked is at Trail of Tears State Park, and is only 15 minutes from my house. Granted the serenity factor is sometimes lacking- it's situated along the Mississippi River and noisy trains and barges run pretty well non-stop some days- it more than satifies. I went on Shepard's Point trail that morning. When I first started hiking the trails back in the 2005, I walked along the lake. Eventually I thought I had enough stamina to walk the entire Lake Trail, which is 2 miles. I decided that while the trail map had it marked as "moderate" it clearly had to be wrong, because I thought I might die before it was over. So when I saw that Shepard's Point was listed as "difficult" I figured it couldn't possibly be that bad. But I soon learned the difference between a "moderate" and "difficult" trail. "Difficult Trail"

But by now, I have walked the Shepards Point Trail several times, and it is always awesome. As I said, the morning was foggy, but it was not completely foggy. From the Bluff overlook (about 200 feet above the river) I couldn't see the river at all, but in other areas, the sunlight came through the mist perfectly. Sunbeams found their way through the clouds so that everthing was very softly lit. The spiderwebs, which were abundant, were highlighted by the fact that this morning they dew covered. I love this picture, because the dew and sunbeam higlight the web it so perfectly. I also love the soft background.

The trail itself starts off on a hill, gentle at first, but entirely a hill until you make a 220 foot elevation change. That particular morning, almost my entire walk up this hill was behind the shadow of the hills for the sun had yet to rise that high. At the pinnacle, the sun shone brightly, with interspersed fog and abundant sunbeams highlighted through. Completely beautiful.

Once at the top of the first hill, you go back down into a valley with a dry creek bed, then back up again. The second hill is not as high, but it is much steeper. I shot this picture near the top, and I'm not quite sure why, but I really like it. I think it's the color differences mixed with the mist.

So that's my walk that morning. I have more pictures, so let me know and I'll put some more up later. Hope you enjoy this! I know I do, especially in OCTOBER!