>>2483077I had brought my trowel and tp, but there also these little brown spiders in the area that just chill on the forest floor and wait for prey at night, so I didn't feel like putting my ass or balls close to the ground at this time.
Anyway, I swap out my baseball cap for my beanie and headlamp set to low, and return back the way I came. After I pass the paved road and the house, upon the trail between the two stone walls, I hear a dog barking not so very far away. Then a pack of coyotes howling. The air is getting colder. I unroll the sleeves of my flannel shirt, and I hear the chaotic yelping of the pack again. Closer this time? I quicken my pace, thankful that I have my hiking staff to keep balance along the dark uneven path as well as my 9mm. I cross over the low stone bridge again, relieved that there is now at least something of a natural barrier between me and the coyotes.
I continue along the trail until two bright green orbs pierce through the dim reflection of the dense forest in front of me, just off the trail, and I freeze. Switching my headlamp to high and squinting through the hazy thicket, I see a small deer, also petrified in confusion. I go along my way, slowly at first, then hastening again, feeling the cold creeping through my thin flannel and undershirt. I arrive again at the point in the wall where I turned northeast and discovered the campsite, with the wooden bridge just up ahead. I slip on some wet leaves on the other side of the bridge, but recover quickly. I hurry along the trail, again on a familiar route and wanting to get home. Now the cold is too uncomfortable and I take my hoodie off my backpack and wear it, which really helps both physically and psychologically when it's pitch black in the damp woods. Roughly 45 minutes later, I'm at the point in the trail where I started and back home. It was a lot of fun. Next time I'll reach that little pond and maybe bring my fishing pole.
