November ~ Rocks & Trolls

So, I have claimed to dislike November and sometimes I certainly do. The fading colors of October can be brilliant with the oaks showing off their colors.

I headed out with Charlie to grab another SD card and to wander about. I'd set hubby up with another football game from years past and had some time to spend in the fresh air.

I was cold when I stepped outside. The winds were WNWish. When I walked across the meadow out back, the winds cut right through my jacket.
Charlie ran ahead darting this way and that smelling where deer or other critters have traveled.

I only brought my pocket camera. I didn't have a plan in mind or a real destination either. I figured it would come to me eventually.

Neighbor's Land to the east of us. Nearly one square mile of woods, valleys and brush. One of the most remote spots in our county.

All trails are shared by all the wildlife around.

No wonder Charlie's nose is SO busy!

I decided to just follow Charlie as he took a different path from the creek to the backside of our acreage. 

I dropped down, slid down a critter trail into the dry run on east end. It is one of the more amazing places we have on our land. Huge boulders seem to have been tossed into the run. Massive trees grow on each side of this ravine.

Most of the time it is dry as the name implies. During flash floods and winter melts, it roars with water and washes rocks, logs, and leaves to the creek below.

View of an oak tree roots from above the dry run.

View of the same oak tree from the bottom of the dry run.

How on earth does this tree stay there? Erosion will topple it eventually.

We have two dry runs which catch the water overflow from the ridge above during storms and direct the water to the creek below. 

During the summer, it is nearly impossible to explore these areas. 

In the fall, winter, and spring, however, it is like entering every child's dream. It is deep, it is quiet, and it begs to be a fort or a play space.

It is out of the harsh winds of winter. It has nooks and crannies. 

With a bit of imagination

this could be a place 

where Trolls and

Dragons live?

I also like looking for unusual rocks while I am in the creek area. I can usually find neat iron concretions after a good flash flood.

I didn't expect to see this though. 

Our rocks are rough and not like those found elsewhere in our state. I stepped over this rock and glanced down. A fossil! I have no idea how old it could be or how it was formed.

I guess I could spend more time hunting our dry runs for interesting things.

Dragons

Trolls

Fossils

Lichen

Mosses

and

cool rocks.

As November progresses and winter arrives, it is time to go back to searching for those other things that interest me. Lichen, moss, and rocks.