I love the outdoors as much as the next person, but hiking in the woods in the middle of Spring or Summer is not my idea of an enjoyable time. The heat. The bugs. Sweating. The bugs. Pollen. The bugs. Even though I’m not a fan of the cold I’d much rather get my climbing cardio on in the colder months where I know I won’t get eaten alive by mosquitos or risk running into a spider (or a nest of spiders- which may or may not be an irrational fear of mine.)

This past Saturday had perfect weather for such an excursion. I headed out to Western Massachusetts with a hot cup of coffee and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” soundtrack (so good!) on my iPod where I tromped through leaves and over snow to catch the beginning of the late afternoon sunset. There were a few other people wandering the trails, too- some with dogs that were awfully friendly and others with kids that were even friendlier. I had my camera with me, and snapped the above photos before it began getting too dark outside and I started back towards where I’d parked my car.

It was a beautiful ending to the day- made even more so after the fact with a quick stop in downtown Northampton before I eventually headed back home. I’d like to head back within the coming weeks to get a few more photos, preferably earlier in the day while I have the sunlight on my side- and before the snow gets here!

xx