Heading into the woods for a day on the Tunxis Trail, just a few minutes from my house.

About half the leaves are down, blanketing the forest floor.

Still lots of green, however.

Old Route 20, abandoned in the 1920s when the Barkhamsted Reservoir was created.

A gloomy day.

Forest floor.

Ferns, when they lose their chlorophyll.

Finding the trail can be tough with the leaves down.

A glacial erratic from the last ice age.

Hemlock grove.

Helpful trail marker: "You are here."

Path.

Even the streams are choked with leaves.

Forest floor.

A little-used dirt road through the forest.

Lunch break on the summit of Pine Mountain.

Springfield, MA.

Another almost invisible stream.

Woodpecker hangout.

In the early 19th Century this was all farmland, marked with stone walls. In the late 19th Century better land became available in the Midwest, and the population here plummeted.

Mid-afternoon, near the end of the trail.

More gloomy weather.

Back to civilization, such as it is.