Something came to my mind today. Just a little while ago I was sitting here working and I suddenly remembered when I was hiking once in Jeffrey’s Hell. I was having a wonderful hike with someone. We were headed towards the Falls, taking our time and taking photos I planned to use later for my book. At the same tome we spotted some mushrooms on a piece of rotting log. They were so interesting. I had rarely seen them before. They were Birds Nest Mushrooms and were very unique. When you see them from a distance, you would never think they are as intricate as they are. I am putting up the pics we took from a slight distance and one close up. Inside each little one, when it opens, looks like a little nest of bird eggs. It is actually a fungus and the “eggs” are actually peridioles. Raindrops help dispense the spores that are inside the peridioles. When released, the have a little springy cord that attaches to a passing animal and this is how they spread.

  The day we saw these cute little things, we also got some great pictures of the bears on Haw Knob and spent the night right above the waterfall. Looking down a waterfall, 80 feet high, as the Sun is coming over the mountains is just amazing and spiritual. The sounds, smells and the special way the mist of water bathes your soul in the wonderment and sacredness of Nature is an unforgettable experience. I don’t think I could ever forget the feeling of heating water on an MSR stove for breakfast, sipping that first taste of hot tea, watching the fog and clouds below you as it slowly rises when the Sun rises over the farthest peak. The entire experience embraces you in peace. You could stare at it for hours, but once the backpack is ready and you pick up that hiking staff to head out for the day, you cannot resist going to the edge one more time, one more time to look over it all, Falls Branch, the moss on the stones, the dew on the trees, the birds singing good morning, the forest floor covered in years of leaves and fallen limbs, the completeness of it all….embedded in your memory, waiting to creep in when you need it most.