A walk in the woods

Around 9:30 AM things started to look a little brighter outside so I decided to pack a lunch, load the rifle and take a hike. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be out or if any showers would return so in addition to a lunch and a water bottle I had my poncho in the backpack. With a map and compass in my bag and my GPS clipped to my belt, I was ready to go.

I walked down the west edge of the property line and crossed over into state land. As expected after a couple of days of heavy rain, the creeks were running pretty high and the marshy areas sucked at my boots. The trees dripped and so did I in the high humidity despite walking very, very slowly. At least the wet made walking pretty quiet.

Chickadees and red squirrels chattered at my passing. Off in the distance I could hear the raucous call of a pilleated woodpecker and the occasional call of a raven or blue jay. Once or twice a wood thrush lifted off the forest floor and perched on a branch to get a better look at me but they were silent as they usually are at this time of year.

Visibility in the forest was next to nil. With all the beeches and maples still holding their leaves, it was only in the deepest part of the woods where the young saplings struggled for a growing spot and the forest understory thinned that I could see more than a few hundred feet in any direction.

I walked slowly in the hopes of seeing either deer or bear but also because of all the trees that have been blown down from the storms of late August 2007 and this past summer. Cherries, beeches and red maples ranging in size from eight to twenty inches in diameter at chest height had been pushed over. Many still had soil around their root ball and still had green leaves. Around several of the maples I could see where deer had come in to nibble the leaves. Tracks and droppings were abundant but I saw no deer. Nor did I see any rubs or scrapes where bucks were marking their territory. Perhaps it's still too early for them to be doing that. They have just shed the velvet from their antlers and started to don their winter coats of gray/brown and the does aren't even close to going into heat.

I walked for two hours and by then I was dripping with perspiration. Instead of continuing, I decided to head back to the cabin to eat my lunch and shuck my own warm clothes. In two hours I had covered just over one mile. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll simply pick a spot and sit for a couple of hours. Meanwhile the loaded rifle is sitting next to the door...just in case.