All Saint's Day at Back Bay

November 1 was All Saint's Day, and although I did not go to church, I was in God's Great Temple of the great outdoors, once again at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Saturday would have been perfect for a hike, but it was the last day of their second or third short hunting season, and so the refuge was closed to all but hunters. Not having any desire to hunt, I sat on the beach in shorts and a tee in the glorious last-day-of-October weather, and read Backpacker Magazine.

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My hike on All Saint's Day lasted about 4 miles, and was done in three parts on this cool and blustery day. Wild weather always seems perfect for a beach hike, don't you think? The dike trails are now closed until April 1, so the first part of my hike was on the few trails that were still open. As many times as I come here, I always seem to notice something different.

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Inviting boardwalk path going through the marsh

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Four bald cypress trees in a small swamp

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Mother Nature is changing the carpet in her family room

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The bald cypress changes a beautiful rust color in the fall and then loses its needles, one of the few conifers to do so.

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Pretty yellow flower along an impoundment

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Next, I walked a couple of miles on the windy beach. I saw not a soul until a guy riding a bike passed me.

You can see a long way on the wild beach

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It often looked stormy over the ocean, but now and then, I could see a patch of blue

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Interesting sky

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This shell reminded me of an angel's wing, perfect for All Saints Day. I collected this one, because while I often see these nearly paper-thin shells in pieces, I've never found a whole one.

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Hard to believe that this dead sponge was once a primative living animal

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When I got back to the trail junction, I ran into a family of hikers. The woman said "Watch out if you go down that trail, because there was a very large snake on the path. We think it was a cottonmouth!" So even though I had already hiked on that path, of course I had to go check it out. I'd seen a big cottonmouth on that trail once before. I had no such luck this time, but did run into this beautiful little green snake:

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Here he is in the brush

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I held him for a photo. He would not hold still, but you can see his beautiful green color and his scales in this shot.

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I released him back in his environment unharmed.

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I hiked along, looking for the big snake. I snapped a couple of more photos of God's handiwork, and then returned to warmer places.

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