A Season of Muddy Boots and Waterfalls

In my house, muddy boots are a way of life and this rainy, snowy, cold winter hasn't offered relief from the mud. As I write this, four pairs of dirty, well-used boots sit in the foyer, waiting for the next foray into the wet, muddy trails of Durham.  I have to admit, though, that I like the mud, the extra work it takes to get to remote locations and the way that being muddy after a day outdoors makes me feel like I've earned the experience.
Ryan and I took a little bushwhacking hike through the woods two days ago at the Spruce Pine Lodge in Bahama, adjacent to Lake Michie, and found that the melting snow had created a real, rushing, foaming waterfall in the normally placid creek that runs down to Lake Michie.  This place, with its rocky outcroppings, rhododendron and laurels reminds me of my favorite spots in western North Carolina where I would sit and read a book or just soak up the sound of water maneuvering its way through the maze of rocks. Well worth the trek through the muck in a pair of knee-high Bogs--my hiking boots would be no match for that sodden soil--to see the melting snow change this from a meandering flow to a raging river.

Waterfall on the Waterfall trail at the Spruce Pine Lodge

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