Sunday, February 20, 2011

Spring is not far off now!

Last week my flowers began to pop up and bloom! I enjoyed seeing the crocus, Lenten Rose, Winter Aconite, daffodills and pansies color the gardens. Here are a few shots I took, I decided to dress them up a bit with Photoshop. :)








Having flowers in my yard helps me survive the winter! However, I know not to get too excited, we nearly always have a few more cold snaps before spring offically arrives.


Kenny and I hiked at Haw Ridge last weekend, the weather was so nice, we had to get out and enjoy it. We decided to hike our usual route "backwards", starting up by the Dragonfly Pond. We took a different trail than we expected, and to our surprise we saw a ghost!!! :) The Friends of Haw Ridge often sponsor a "Haunted Trail" at Halloween, this ghoul was left over from one of those events. It gave us a good laugh! We stopped at the picnic tables to eat our lunch. I set the camera on the second table and snapped a photo of us with the self-timer.



Kenny and I had last Friday off from work. Our friend, Bob (in orange shirt), from the Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers (SANP) invited us to go hiking with him and some friends, George and Ann, in the Smokies. We went on the Middle Prong trail at the end of Tremont Road. The trail has some very lovely cascades and waterfalls. I love taking photos of running water.





Along the trail we also stopped to see the remains of an old Cadillac left behind from the logging days of the last century. The Middle Prong trail follows an old railroad bed, it is an easy trail to hike.






Farther up the trail we took a side hike to go see Indian Flats Falls. It was the first time Kenny and I had seen it. We were surprised to see remnants of snow and ice on the trail! It made getting to the falls a bit tricky! There is an upper part of the falls and a lower part. I slipped on the algae on the rocks above the lower falls and was glad I didn't take an unexpected "swim" in the creek! I'm looking forward to going back up there in a few weeks so I can get some springtime photos!













































2 comments:

Christine said...

Love all the photos Kris. The ghost on the trail was a hoot, bet you guys did have a good laugh. The remains of the old car was kinda cool too, I love stuff like that. Won't be too long til flowers are blooming up your way too. So far Amanda and I have found trillium and bloodroot and some false rue anemone. Still looking for trout lilies.

Unknown said...

Wow, Bare Ground AND Flowers!! Even with the rain, we will not see either for a long time yet. There is usually a contest going somewhere to see when the last of a snowpile disappears!! The winner gets>>>>>?