holiday hike

 

Over the holiday weekend we went on a hike at Watkins Mill State Park. Since we usually bike the paved lake trail it was a nice change of pace to walk allowing us to take in the views at a slower pace and enjoy the woods up close, rather than zooming by. 

We took a trail into the woods and found a camping area before unknown to us. It was quite cozy and would be a nice place to stay. We found a dried up pond (no picture) which allowed us to see trees, or what was left of them, where a beaver had gnawed them (second to last picture). After that it became something of a game to spot these gnawed trees on the rest of our walk around the lake, and we saw quite a few. It's amazing once you know what to look for in the woods what you'll actually see. 

The trail is just under 4 miles and with our extra tromping through the woods I'd say our total distance was closer to 5 miles. It was colder than our hike the week before, but we were bundled and this time I remembered to bring the coffee and tea with us. We are already on a roll with these cold weather hikes which makes me hope this will be more of a habit this season than a novelty as it has been in years past.