The Darkness in the Woods.
I had an interesting hike today. Image heavy post under the cut:
I’ve been really antsy lately… and today, I finally decided screw it, I needed to get out into the woods. Nature’s good. I live out in the middle of farm country… very tame, very mundane, and there’s even a little park here. Funny thing, I was almost an adult before I knew it was actually a real park as opposed to just ‘the swamp.’ It was close to sunset when I headed out.
One thing I always found interesting about this park is that while the path starts out wide, it quickly narrows… like people turn around only a short way in. Maybe they dislike that it’s a swamp… I mean, wetland. But I love the place.
This time though, I noticed a trail I hadn’t gone down before. It wasn’t very well kept up.
Some of the trees were looking sorry.
But at least there were these funny looking flowers to cheer things up.
And I went deeper into the swamp….
At the end of the plank path, it was hard to spot the trail.
And some of the trees are marked with red spraypaint, like they’re to be cut down soon, even though the trail’s barely kept up.
Along most of the way, it was more of a game trail than hiking path.
At one point, the path widened, and there was a fallen tree.
It was covered in scratches. I presume it’s from deer rubbing the velvet from their horns, but it looks like claw marks.
The trees kept getting thicker…
And some of them were kind of strange looking.
At one point, the path was blocked completely, and I had to climb through branches to get through. You can see the fallen tree that blocked the path way down the way.
But then, shortly after, I found this:
This is out in the middle of nowhere. It’s in the middle of the woods, surrounded by farms. This is really uncharacteristic of the area. It was a bridge of some sort, a long time ago. But the top is covered in earth and growing things now.
The graffiti continues in the tunnel… even though the ceiling’s so low I have to crouch to get inside. Most of it is old, and worn.
However, the most unsettling part was this:
I was tempted to take the skull. It was a new addition to the place… I could smell the paint on it, even though it had rained earlier today. It bothers me that it’s used in this way, like a warning… but the sun was getting lower and I had to get back to my car. Something made a loud sound in the woods, and that got me to leave right then. I left it and started heading back. On the way I saw a big coyote, I think. I was moving too fast and spooked it, but I saw its tail. That’s probably what had made the noise earlier.
The swamp feels different now. I still like it. But it’s different.
I’ve been really antsy lately… and today, I finally decided screw it, I needed to get out into the woods. Nature’s good. I live out in the middle of farm country… very tame, very mundane, and there’s even a little park here. Funny thing, I was almost an adult before I knew it was actually a real park as opposed to just ‘the swamp.’ It was close to sunset when I headed out.
One thing I always found interesting about this park is that while the path starts out wide, it quickly narrows… like people turn around only a short way in. Maybe they dislike that it’s a swamp… I mean, wetland. But I love the place.
This time though, I noticed a trail I hadn’t gone down before. It wasn’t very well kept up.
Some of the trees were looking sorry.
But at least there were these funny looking flowers to cheer things up.
And I went deeper into the swamp….
At the end of the plank path, it was hard to spot the trail.
And some of the trees are marked with red spraypaint, like they’re to be cut down soon, even though the trail’s barely kept up.
Along most of the way, it was more of a game trail than hiking path.
At one point, the path widened, and there was a fallen tree.
It was covered in scratches. I presume it’s from deer rubbing the velvet from their horns, but it looks like claw marks.
The trees kept getting thicker…
And some of them were kind of strange looking.
At one point, the path was blocked completely, and I had to climb through branches to get through. You can see the fallen tree that blocked the path way down the way.
But then, shortly after, I found this:
This is out in the middle of nowhere. It’s in the middle of the woods, surrounded by farms. This is really uncharacteristic of the area. It was a bridge of some sort, a long time ago. But the top is covered in earth and growing things now.
The graffiti continues in the tunnel… even though the ceiling’s so low I have to crouch to get inside. Most of it is old, and worn.
However, the most unsettling part was this:
I was tempted to take the skull. It was a new addition to the place… I could smell the paint on it, even though it had rained earlier today. It bothers me that it’s used in this way, like a warning… but the sun was getting lower and I had to get back to my car. Something made a loud sound in the woods, and that got me to leave right then. I left it and started heading back. On the way I saw a big coyote, I think. I was moving too fast and spooked it, but I saw its tail. That’s probably what had made the noise earlier.
The swamp feels different now. I still like it. But it’s different.