Snow Adventures

A few days ago it snowed in the morning but was clear the rest of the day.  The end result was almost a foot of snow on the ground. I decided to go on a little bit of an adventure.  I drove to a rather large park that has some trails and many trees and hills called Forrest Park Nature Center.  It's at the bottom of a very steep curvy road that I rather enjoy driving down at unsafe speeds.  Needless to say, I went a little slower than usual with all the snow.

I like this image because the sign seems to point opposite of the road

I had my camera with me and started down one of the trails, which totally covered with snow.  It was obvious that a few people had been on the trails earlier but there was no one now.  I was wearing my Merrell waterproof shoes but what really kept my feet from being totally drenched were my socks.  The shoes kept snow out the bottom but when snow gets in the top then it usually gets cold fast.  I was wearing a pair of snowboarding socks made by Smartwool (PhD, medium cushion).  I don't snowboard and would probably cry like a baby the first time I fell but I do appreciate the socks.  I was walking, trudging, through snow that was continuously in contact with my pants, shoes, and socks but my feet hardly got wet.  The trail was ok because the snow on it had been somewhat flattened by previous hikers but upon leaving the trail I found myself quite grateful to have such amazing socks.

The reason I left the trail, despite seeing a few signs asking visitors such as myself not to, was because of the deer. Yes, I blame the animals.  I saw six or so deer cross the path ahead of me from my right on the edge of the park near some buildings and run up the snow-and-tree-covered hill on my left.  I decided to follow.  I only had a 55mm prime lens so I couldn't zoom.   I tried going closer and calling out to them but didn't really get a close image.  Eventually they just went too fast and were out of sight.

I continued to trudge up the hill all the way to the top.  The sun was close to setting in front of me and was beautiful sparkling over all the snow.  The light was great.  By this time I decided that I was ready to return to my nice warm car.  Although dry, my toes were starting to get a little cold. Soon I did find myself coming to another trail. Many twists and turns later I made it back to my car before it got dark.

I decided to go back to the park two nights later.  This time I took my small Osprey backpack, my portable Manfrotto tripod, and two bright Pelican flashlights.  I purposely arrived near dark because this time I wanted pictures at night.  This time I walked to the far end of the park.  I saw a field of deer but they were so far away as to be tiny and the snow drift was nearly as tall as my legs.  I returned to the now-well-worn path.  After going down a steep hill I came to a place where one tree had fallen on another and started to rot.  I just liked the triangle they made with the ground.  

I threw one of my lights, the Pelican 9410L, right into the snow probably twenty feet away.  I like Pelican flashlights because they're tough and water resistant.  I played around in the snow and piled it, lighting it differently and such.  I liked that I could bury my flashlights to make the snow glow from beneath.  It looked just like dry sand when you pile it in one spot until you get a conical hill.  I knew my tripod would just need to dry and it wouldn't rust or anything.  I use the Pentax K-5 as my main camera and I was quite thankful for it weather resistance on this trip.  While I was playing in the snow I could keep my gloves on and easily use the controls and not worry about water getting in the camera body at all.

A bit further on I came to a log, covered in snow of course, and I just set the light on it so it was back lit.  I just thought it looked really cool.  I enjoyed throwing snow in the air and having it rain down in the light.  The effect was something like a curtain of light.

By about that time I was getting cold, all over.  I packed everything back into the bag except the light and continued along the trail.  It curved and ran along the edge of the hill before finally coming to a T.  I hadn't really been that far back in this park before so I was glad of the signs.  I climbed the hill and it seemed to take forever.  I was getting tired fast and ready to sit down and drive home.  Each step the snow beneath my feet would steal some energy from my stride.  My flashlight is very bright but it still didn't seem to penetrate the darkness of the woods around me very much.  Finally I made it back to the lonely parking lot, my car the only one.  I sure am glad I have heat in my car and a warm house!