One of the great things about trail running is finding these places that feel like worlds unto themselves, where one can run forever and forget the hard reality of life off the trail.
I'll never get tired of the sight of mist moving through the forest, nor will I tire of the blues and yellows of sunlight diffused by clouds on the horizon 💛💙💛
I was intently focused on capturing the smaller trunk growing out of the main trunk on the tree at center-left, didn't even realize I got a beautiful canopy shot until I got home 😁
In my experience, these purple-pink phenotypes are much less common than white trillium in these parts (the forests of western Washington); I was very surprised, then, to find that almost half—by my very rough estimate—of all the trillium I saw on the Mima Falls Trail were this purple-pink color. When I got onto the McKenny Trail, the majority went clearly back to white. I wonder what it is about the Mima Falls Trail... 🤔
Often, I find that the only way to get truly interesting photos is to get myself into some uncomfortable position so that I can frame the shot in some quirky way; sometimes, though, nature just presents something that looks like a work of art entirely on its own, no creative framing necessary 🎨
When you've been running for a couple hours and you reach that sign deep in the forest reminding you that you have miles yet to go to get back to where you started 🏃♂️😅
Lilo pretends that she's considering going around the puddle rather than thru it, but she and I both know what's really gonna happen as we run down this section of trail 😆
This isn't one of my best captures—limitations of smartphone photography—but I'm sharing because I'd like to know if anyone else has seen something like this. Note that almost every limb of the subject tree is wavy. None of the tree's neighbors, all the same type of tree, had wavy branches like that. Knowing what I know about how trees grow, I can only guess that the shape of this tree's branches had something to do with the quality of light it was receiving as those limbs grew: how much light, the pattern of light and shadows cast by neighbors, etc. Any science hippies here in the Federation have any further insight to impart?
Very few trail scenes beat the look and feel of running thru a silent and still misty forest. It's like all the rest of the universe drops away, and all that remains is my body, the trail, and a small bubble of peace and tranquility that moves with me through the cool, gray void 🌲🩶
I wasn't sure I would share this photo because it's a scene that feels common in the forests I love, but then I realized that's exactly why I should share:
Not all the magic of life is extraordinary—sometimes we live with magic all around us. It's important that we remember to pause and be grateful for everyday magic 🙏💚
Also:
Here's another example of Sol's mighty power, the light of our life so bright that its radiant orb occludes a tree trunk set between the sun and the camera. I love that ☀️😮💛