A winter transformation

I am a fan of winter.

I live at a latitude that is not conducive to much snow. It happens on occasion, rarely accumulates and sometimes doesn’t even stick. Winter in the Southern Plains is mostly a brown and grey affair.

Not that I mind these winter hues, but I grew up in snowier climates. So sometimes I miss the white stuff.

Last month, we got a solid dump. I’d hesitate to call it a blizzard, but a good, heavy dose of thick, wet snow dropped somewhere around 5-6 inches on my city. And as anyone will tell you, I like to hike on days like that.

Here are some pics that show one of my favorite hiking spots about a week before the storm…

Still some green in there.

Bare trees and a bunch of rocks.

Okie forest, stripped bare of their greenery.

Low winter sun, lichens, shadows and stone.

There’s beauty just about anywhere at any time in the forest. But cover it in a bunch of snow? It’s like you’re in a whole other world.

The weight of the snow made this cool looking arch.

Too bad I couldn’t claim first tracks. But I had it to myself for most of this hike.

Remember this pic at the start? With stone and lichens? Here we go again, but with a blanket of snow on top.

I don’t have anything profound to say about these two hikes, other than the fact that winter, while sometimes dreary and dark, can be gorgeous and inviting. It was well worth the chill to see what the woods looked like with this frozen bounty.

Bob Doucette