6:34
We talked work as we made our way up. The trail had tire ruts, but I didn’t notice tracks any newer than last season. Dark Mud sat where streams often crossed the path. New greening, last season’s brown and stone walls here and there. We came to an impressive ruin of the foundation of a large structure, perhaps a house, at least that was what I remembered hearing from someone who lives close to the trail.
7:12
The lake itself was quiet and calm. I only saw a few mosquitos. A few pairings and a small flock of birds played in the near distance. Straight across the lake I could just make out the small dancing light of a camp fire, and the shifting shadows of at least one person walking around. It was hard to make out anything more than that.
When baby saw the lake she couldn’t seem to take in anything else. Not even boob. Astonished she stared in one direction, twisted around in her harness and stared in another direction.
7:33
Trip back was quiet. Nearing dark the height of the thin trees somehow become more notable, more amazing or perhaps daunting. Evergreens and evergreens and the occasional birch.
7:45
We discovered there are two parallel paths close together. The interesting thing is how we didn’t know we were on a different path until it became hard to pass. The woods are the same, the landscape is the same, the paths look similar but one may not be visible while on the other. When coming back down we found ourselves on the secondary path without knowing it until a stream cut more deeply into the dirt, making it harder to cross. This presumed consistency followed by abrupt change was momentarily alarming, like the woods had changed while we were at the lake or we had somehow gotten lost. My GPS, when zoomed in, did show the two paths side by side and it was easy enough to just walk over to the other.
