Day 3.308: Signs of life?

It's just over two months since our first visit to Phillipinkill Preserve. Technically it was still summer then, but the intervening seventy days have seen this piece of woodland shut down for winter.

Apart from a few rather dessicated berries and some rustling leaves still clinging to the otherwise bare branches, there were no signs of life except ourselves. Which is not to say we had a disappointing trip - we wanted to get out for a short walk and enjoy the glorious weather - and that is what we did. The openness of the woodland at this time of year provides views that are obscured in more lively seasons and, in preparation for the arrival of lasting snow, the thick leaf cover obscures the trails and forced us to look for trail markers on the trees (and required the smallest member of the party to pick up his feet) to prevent the trip becoming too free-form.