Beam Rocks and Laurel Mountain in the Winter

This is Beam Rocks, just about half a mile off Laurel Summit Road in the Forbes State Forest.  It's a relatively unremarkable view unless you look past the rooftop of the forest and into the middle distance of the picture.  There you can see the snowy fields of the farmland east of the ridge.  This place was lovely in the wintry silence and the deep solitude that only the snow can lend it.

These rocks are right along the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, but their proximity to the road makes them a favorite for people who would never expend the energy needed to go even just one mile further into the woods.  And of course they often bring their spray paint along to deface the rocks.  Last time I was here, there was a teenager carrying an actual old fashioned boombox and blaring The Beatles as if he'd discovered them.  Why would anyone go to the woods with a boombox?  And The Beatles, really?

I like kids these days.  I do not typically find them whiny or entitled--though guys my age love to say otherwise.  But it's funny how a 15-year old will look at you with a straight face and ask, "Have you ever heard of a band called Pink Floyd?"  To them, it's all so new--the tired old music that feels so much to me like the day before yesterday.  There were lots of cross-country skiers up on the ridge, and this little warming hut was open.

On a Wednesday morning, of course, the woodstove was cold.  But it's a pleasant space.  I love holing up against the winter in a cabin with a woodburner. 

It was such a joy to have a few days of real winter in January and a few again in February.  It definitely thins out the crowds and casts an all-noise-absorbing muffle out over the hills and fields.  I got a little turned around while hiking from Beam Rocks toward Wolf Rocks.  I never did make it to my destination and instead circled back to Laurel Summit Road.

My own children have so little experience of snow!  They've never dug a snow tunnel--though they have made snowpersons.  They're girls, so when they were little I used to tell them it doesn't have to be a snowman; it can be any kind of snowperson they want it to be.  My brothers and I used to build such elaborate snow castles--based on photos of ruined Scottish castles that I saw in the old Tree of Knowledge Encyclopedias long ago.  I would read through encyclopedias as if they were novels.

It was a real joy to see the Laurel Mountain Ski Resort up and running!  And there were plenty of skiers considering that it was the middle of a weekday.  Last time I came here, it felt like the spooky set of a Scoobie Doo cartoon--abandoned and overrun with tall grass.  That was seven or eight years ago.

To see what I found last time I ventured there, click here.  I love it when things get better... Also, to see another bright, sunny interlude in South Florida, click here.  Not sure how I got to Florida twice in one winter, but these are the days for a little extra self-indulgence.  (It's just that Florida would never be my first choice.)