This guy is so wonderful that I really don’t want to add any description to this photo. He was just great—came over to me and posed perfectly.

And this is really a part of the larger lake that is completely frozen. Thankfully, this section was open and where all the ducks, geese, and swans were hanging out.

“Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here to watch his woods fill up with snow . . . The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” — Robert Frost.

I’m not going to comment about the fact that these two have on the same color! But I will tell you that after this photo was taken, Chip began eating the snow—lots of it! In fact, he ate so much that he ended up back in the car because he wouldn’t stop. I guess obsessions really can hit without warning.

The snow on the way up to Neel’s Gap was wonderful but the road (Hwy 19/129) became very treacherous. We had to turn around after a tractor-trailer truck slid sideways and blocked the road in front of us. My four-wheel drive worked well. I turned around but it was tricky—curvy roads and snow blocked any thought of taking photographs. We made it back to Smithgall Woods but quickly discovered the temperature was dropping, the roads were freezing, and black ice was forming. Yikes and double yikes when I watched the Tahoe in front of me fish-tail along the roadway in Clarkesville.

More Snow at the edge of the woods. And beyond here is a crystal, clear trout stream. But we were not looking for trout today.

Then there is Cocoa. I love Cocoa’s eyes. . . . I told her to give me her best “Jack London” stare and she did. She lowered her head and locked her eyes on me (wonderful!) and was ready to track!

And here she is ignoring my camera and looking off into the distance.

Why is a shoe hanging from a tree on the Appalachian Trail? This sight usually has an entirely different meaning in a city, but here it is a sign that you have either packed too much stuff for the journey or you have the wrong kind of gear. Through hikers heading north usually stop at the Walasi Yi Center (billed as the only covered spot on the trail) located at Neel’s Gap to wash clothes, buy supplies for the long miles ahead, and dump unnecessary gear. It is here that many hikers throw their deeply valued hiking boots up into one of the hemlocks that blanket the gap. Center workers said one backpacker told them she had paid $600 for the pair of leather boots she was leaving behind! This “dumping” comes when hikers realize they have either too much of a good thing or simply the wrong equipment. In many cases it becomes a symbol of letting go of the old and of the “not needed” in order to reach a greater goal.

As I took this photo, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of us continue to carry unnecessary baggage through life—baggage that weights us down and prevents us from being all that we can be. Really, we need to be lean hikers—free of worry, anger, frustration, and bitterness—carrying only what is expedient for the trip—love, joy, and forgiveness. Most of the time this requires leaving some personal desire, demand, or “self perceived right” behind. Jesus basically told His disciples: carry only what you need for the journey that I have given you to walk. (Luke 10)