Shadow Falls (spring version)

It's pretty astounding to me how different a place can be from one season to the next.

This morning Josh and I went to visit the Shadow Falls paths that I discovered just over two months ago, in the middle of March. (This all happened when I veered off the beaten path on a run one weekend and, much to my surprise, found waterfalls.)

I couldn't wait to see what it looked like in the springtime - and indeed, it felt like a totally different place. For one thing, there were leaves on the trees, and the ground wasn't frozen. The sunlight was streaming down the little ravine, through the leaf canopy:

I love backlit leaves, obviously.

The main new development was that it's really muddy now, thanks to a May that brought six inches of rain to the Twin Cities. We scampered back and forth across a little stream to choose the path on whatever side of the stream happened to be less muddy. (It reminded me of last year's long hike in Tennessee, which had more dramatic river crossings.)

It was so green.

And then our whole expedition hit a minor snafu because the path actually turned out too muddy to traverse all the way to the waterfalls. It probably wouldn't have been too muddy if one were wearing proper hiking boots. Because we were actually en route to the day's main activity - going up to my grandma's house - I was wearing flipflops. Chaco flip flops - but still, flip flops. Not hiking shoes.

I think the expression on my face in the next picture is equal parts This is really fun! and I somehow managed to not fall in the mud.

I can't wait to put on some proper shoes and come back to this place.