A bright sunny winter day in February is not a good time for taking nature photographs, but I dragged along the camera gear anyway for a hike on a part of the Ozarks Highlands Trail in early 2001. Here and there we found some nice things to shoot, including a pretty little waterfall with moss hanging from its lip. And we discovered we could walk around behind the falls, where we were greeted with this view.

I had hiked the same area in the spring of 1996 with Darby and managed to sprain my ankle several miles in. As I continued hiking for another couple miles the ankle kept getting stiffer and more painful, until I finally decided I ought to get out of there. The hike back to the trail head was something of an ordeal and was about the longest five miles I've ever walked, but it did have the salutary effect of convincing me that ankle-supporting high-topped hiking boots were probably a good idea.