A perfect start to the new year …

During my recent time off, I’ve been venturing farther than Melton Hill Lake for hikes. For our New Year’s Day hike, Lara, Xena, Ozzy and I drove up to Frozen Head State Park and hiked to the waterfalls. It was fantastic. Sunny. Warm. We had a great, relaxing start to 2005. Here are a few photos that I took while I was up there.

Our only incident was when I was letting the dogs run off their leashes, and they went charging toward a trio of rednecks, scaring the poor folks pretty badly. I tend to forget how big Xena is, and when she comes charging down a trail at you and you don’t know for sure if she’s friendly, it can cause alarm. The woman, clutching a little yappy dog and sporting a magnificent bouffant ‘do, was clearly perturbed, but the kid and husband survived their encounter with the wild dogs of Frozen Head, so no harm was done. I promptly leashed the dogs and we continued on our way.

On Thursday, I took the dogs up there and the place was deserted. It was wonderful. About five minutes after we entered the woods, we saw two white-tail deer loping up the hillside, and later that day, we saw an entire herd, maybe 6 or 8 of them, crashing through the woods to get away from us. Watching those white tails bounce through the woods was truly sublime.

It’s going to be tough returning to the work grind on Monday …

Now Playing: I Shall Be Released from the album “Music from Big Pink” by The Band