A Walk In A Welcome Rain.

It’s been dry here, bone dry, all of the last two months.  The ground is dust, the river is dry, the green shoots of Spring wilt as they emerge.

It ain’t right, I tell ya.

But last night we had a glorious inch of rain, trailing off to showers and drizzle as today progressed.  And while I’m not usually inclined to take a hike while it’s raining, this time was different, a blessing, and I got an early enough start to catch the last of the showers up on a ridge in Rowe, near the Raycroft Overlook.

I won’t say I packed lightly – camera and tripod, a pack full of lenses, and my rain set-up: a wooden stake tripod, big-ass hammer, two bungee cords and an umbrella.  ‘Cause I’m high-tech, you know.

Anyway, I drove as far out toward the Overlook as my oversized beast would take me without risking disaster, then loaded up and hiked onward to where the ridge narrowed to a rib of forest slicing through the fog and mist hiding the valley far below.

It was as magical as it always is in the mist – the last time I was here in these conditions, a big black bear loped by between me and the misty void, and though my vulnerability in that moment was clear, I wished it would happen again.

But it didn’t, and as I made my way through the hemlock forest I kept my senses open for a reason to set up the camera and umbrella.

I found this, a moss covered log so vibrant it startled me, cloaked in green velvet and sporting some newly emergent Orange jelly fungus (Dacrymyces palmatus ):

This is from Elliot, with about five degrees of tilt (!) and a hand-held three-stop ND graduated filter, which was the primary reason I needed the umbrella.  Little bugger doesn’t take kindly to getting wet.

I took a dozen shots, playing with composition and laying the plane of sharp focus in artsy ways, but none of them were more compelling than this simple early take, so that’s what I’m sharing here.