February ~ Winter Trails ~ deHart Step ~ de Heartworks

Heart Powder

Winter Hiking

Hard crust on the snow

break through, stand up, new mission:
Carve light into ice.

swhaiku 02-2009

There is always time to stop and play along the way.

I am trying to make sure I mix more parts hope

and less parts despair

as I share MST images from Watauga and the Winter of 2010 This is what we love to hike in the winter forest. A nice wide level foot tread, good grade, and crunchy soft steps. But around each bend there awaits a plethora of obstacles.
Some of them minor, some quite the challenge. This rats nest of maples and oaks fell into the switchback at deHart Step crossing.

There is a large heart shaped stone at the creek crossing.

You can spot it just below the center of this photo.

Here is a view of that same heart step crossing taken during trail construction.
Somewhere beneath all of the winter debris,
lies this beautiful cascading waterfall.

To venture back to the summer click here...

My Friend Gary and I worked our way through the downfalls
and across the creek.

Nothing was easy in this traverse.

In an entanglement like this it is good to know you are hiking with a friend. Its a good idea to never hike alone in severe winter and on dangerous trails.

Completing the climb and stepping out into the valley is worth all of the trials.

And knowing this familiar trail will again look like this in the spring
puts winter in perspective.

I am reminded of why we continue to make the effort
to explore nature in all of its breathtaking forces.

The nature experience when taken to heart transcends beyond the moment

into the light

flowing within the river of life.

Happy Valentines 2010
Heartworks created by shelton wilder