Waterfalls in the gorge at the Plotter Kill Preserve, Rotterdam, NY

Before high winds in the afternoon–and between bitter temperatures the day before and after–we raced out. It had been three years since I’d wrestled on my snowshoes and gotten to trod on piles of snow.

Along the Red Path above the creek, under the dark trees and before more snow fell in the afternoon.

Only deer and squirrels had gone before us.

January hemlocks hang over the Plotter Kill (Creek), a tributary of the Mohawk River.

What a gift, what a gift.