A Stroll Through the Woods

Went walking at lunch today on a favorite spot, in Suwanee, Ga. It's a nice three miler that takes an hour and sometimes a little change, with some elevation changes, but not a lot. It's a good place to go refresh your mind.

This was my first walk there in a while. I haven't walked at all in the past week plus after my hiking trip in the Smokies. I had to allow my feet to heal. But today the temps were perfect, and the skies clear. Temps in the 60's.

Heavy rains ended a day and a half earlier, and the ground was still completely saturated. I walked a short distance to the beginning of the soft trail through the woods, which goes for 2/3 mile, and after I went down to lower elevations along the river the smell was overwhelming. It reminded me of a wet dog, fresh out of the tub. To my right everything was soaked and muddy from the flooding caused by 4-5 inches of rain. Parts of the trail had been underwater during the rains, as evidenced by the wash across the trail. And further down, after I reached the paved portion and later walked across the wood boardwalks across the swamp iI saw that much of this had been underwater as well, from the mud washed over and the lack of leaves on the trail. At higher elevations the trail had a nice layer of fallen leaves.

A few hints of the changing seasons dotted the trails, with colors starting to peek out. Anticipation.

Three hours after my walk finished I had a green inchworm on my collar, having been caught out. A reminder of the day. Nothing like a stroll through the woods the unclutter the mind.