This cold November morning, the Smoky Mountains had frosted over. My father and I were two of the few people out and about at this time and temperature. He was looking for bucks, and I was looking at plants. Pretty typical for the two of us :) 
This is the downtown Knoxville skyline reflected in the Tennessee River. The color paired with the tree silhouette make this one of my favorite pictures.
I plan to occasionally post about comical things I've seen while hiking, and/or while traveling in general. I'll start with what is probably my most amusing shot - Justin and a mule deer sharing a trail in Colorado. It was hard getting a picture where both of them had their eyes open, facing me. This deer and her companions were obviously unafraid of humans. A few minutes later, another deer in this group kindly posed for me with the sand dunes as a backdrop.
During WWII, most of Cape Henlopen State Park was Fort Miles. The U.S. government fortified strategic positions along the east coast, preparing for potential German attack. Fort Miles guarded the entrance to Delaware Bay. The chimney in the picture above rises from a casemate, a large underground storage locker for ammunition. Casemates were covered with sand and native vegetation in order to deceive enemy subs offshore. Today, remnants of Fort Miles are littered across the sand dunes.
I like the contrast of a "desert" plant poking through light snowfall. Although yuccas are succulents, they grow in a variety of climates. Seeing one in snow is not uncommon, but it is visually interesting. To me, it looks like the yucca has stabbed through the snow.
This is in Great Sand Dunes NP, in Colorado. I like this picture because of the layering of different textures: tree silhouettes, sand, foothills, and mountains. One of the reasons I like camping is because views like these greet you in the morning while blaring neon signs and tourist traps are conspicuous only in their absence. But after several days of camping, I'll wade through tourists hip deep to get a hot shower!
