A Walk in the Woods

The title of this entry is the title to a wonderful book by Bill Bryson about hiking the Appalachian Trail. If you have ever hiked, wanted to hike, or just enjoy reading about someone else's oftentime hilarious adventures, this is the book for you.

Today, being the quintessential autumn day (although the first official day of autumn is Monday), I decided to go for a walk in the woods. There is a beautiful, somewhat small but no less gorgeous lake near our house, maybe a 10 minute drive away. There are hiking trails that wind around the lake and up into the surrounding woods. You could easily do a 25 minute walk around the lake, or spend 3 hours just walking the various trails.

I threw on my rugged jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a sweatshirt, as the air felt a little brisk this morning. It was forecasted for a high of 66 (I love it!) today, so I figured the extra layer of comfy warmth would be good. I also decided to wear my hiking boots instead of sneakers since today I would definitely be hiking more of a hilly trail than the flat one that sticks close to the shore of the lake.

I love everything about days like this in the fall. The air is crisp and cool and clean. There's that wonderful smell of leaves beginning to change. The sounds of families playing with their dogs along the shore and enjoying each other's company, trying to enjoy the last 2 months of guarenteed outdoor time without having to bundle up and worry about ice and snow.

Here are a couple pictures of the lake and trails that I took around this time last year. It's one of those peaceful places I will always love to visit.