Hiking a Snail’s Pace

It’s the little things that mean a lot to me while I’m hiking, so I tend to look up, down, and around me in every direction and dawdle a lot, to the consternation of friends who feel that hiking is all about getting to the destination rather than reveling in the journey.

I was on a guided hike out of Montreat, NC during the Southeastern Trails Symposium when I happened across this snail flicker of movement among the mosses draped over fallen logs on Big Butt Mountain, where the Mountains to Sea Trail and the Appalachian Trail intersect.