Trail Magic

Traci and I hiked the Frad Haught Trail this weekend.
Weird, colorful sap on a pine tree trunk.
Stream slime.
I almost stepped on this little snake. I got to photograph and pet it before it slithered away.
We camped near an idyllic stream and meadow.
We weren't alone. An elk showed up in the middle of the night and bugled for an hour. Sadly, he didn't get any elk-action. We awoke to the sound of splashing in the morning. I unzipped my tent and saw the elk about 20 yards away. He was a big, majestic creature with a fine rack. Tahoe went nuts; he wanted to chase it! He started shaking and whimpering. I waited a few minutes after it left before I let Tahoe out of the tent. Then, he busied himself by running around, looking for animals while I got a couple more hours of sleep.Backpacksicle. It was so cold that our tents and backpacks were covered with frost in the morning.