Aki and I are enjoying the Rain Forest Trail. She got to play with a German Sheppard who was nosing around the parking lot when we arrived at the trailhead. Energized, she runs over the packed snow of the trail. I try to keep pace, ignoring the beauty of the forest. 

            Even though only 5% of the forest trail offers a beach view, I rarely stop to photograph anything in the woods. It has all the stately beauty of an old growth forest: thick trunked spruce and hemlock, displays of old man’s beard lichen, a roof-like canopy and moss covered floor.  If I stopped to compare, I am sure I’d find each tree has its own character. 

            Following the impatient poodle-mix onto the beach, I learn that we are the first visitors of the day. Gulls lounge on beach rocks just cleared of snow by the tide. Golden eye and mallard ducks slip into the water but stay close to the shore. Eight more golden eye ducks drop onto the water to join the others. The ducks are too busy earning a living to acknowledge our presence.