Total eclipse

the total lunar eclipse treated us to a beautiful red sphere and shooting stars at its peak







the creek in full moonlight




one of the reasons I chose to live here is the access to the mountains
just out the door summits can be reached via short but extremely steep bushwack


here's a beautiful bowl that looks ski-able



a nice grove of small broadleaf evergreens forming a sub-canopy, pines as the top canopy

there is absolutely no level ground for a camp on the entire route up
save one 10 meter wide plateau covered with deer scat and ticks
it's a 500 meter climb over an 1000 meter distance

the problem with bushwacking is ticks, you have to stop every 100 meters or so and brush them off your legs and inspect well
the route often follows game trails
black clothing is not allowed






another thing I noticed a few weeks ago on a family hike was the complete lack of acorns, nothing! Seems like it is not just a local phenomena http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/nyregion/boom-and-bust-in-acorns-will-affect-many-creatures-including-humans.htmlalso this has been the mildest year for stinkbugs ever, who can't be happy about that? But they say few of them means a mild winter, we'll see.

December surprise, straggler reds