Minister Creek...(click to enlarge...)

Climbed Minister Creek trail today, a strenuous uphill that I am thankful I am still able to do, although a little slower than in years past. The trail is very muddy because of the wet spring and the clay soil,requiring waterproof shoes, but the view on top is one of the few within these dense woods. The blowdown from a decade ago is still evident, where chainsaws have cleared the path while leaving the logs where they had fallen. The picture shows only a small portion of hundreds of yards of wind toppled damage. Further on Nature shows it's resiliency in the picture of the sapling having sprouted in dirt on top of the boulder. It slowly has secured a tenacious hold as its roots have grown down the sides. In a deadstand woodpeckers have tunneled into the heartwood in search of insects; possibly chipmunks or other creatures will use the holes as living quarters.