While I sat in off the trail in Sunny Hollow Natural Area I noticed quite a few things. Firstly it’s getting colder and windier. I could almost see my breath in the air. Most of the leaves have already fallen covering the forest floor in varying shades of orange and brown. As I sat the falling leaves caught my eye. It was peaceful to watch them make their descent to the ground. I watched a few as they swirled in the wind observing the places they fell. I noticed that many of them got caught up in the branches of the pine I was sitting under.
The ferns that had started to yellow on my last visit have curled up on themselves and turned brown. That being said most of the ferns still look vibrant and lively. It seemed that during my visit the only leaves still falling were maple. And the American Beech trees still had quite a few yellowing leaves on their branches. Furthermore the younger American Beech trees even had some green leaves toward the base of the tree. The fallen leaves make the trails a little more treacherous but that doesn’t seem to deter many. Throughout my time at Sunny Hollow I have crossed paths with many other hikers, usually accompanied by their fury companions. This visit I even saw a mountain biker with his poodle who is featured in my birds eye map.
