I decided to go for a quick hike on the mountain this morning. The air was crisp, the temperature was 21 degrees when I started. There are only a few things green on the mountain now, pine trees, white pines, hemlocks, holly trees, mountain laurel and moss! As I hiked around the Northside of the mountain where it is always moist and shaded, I found a few large patches of green moss. The moss I found today was eye-catching green unlike nearly all other plants that have already turned brown.
Many people don’t give moss much thought but what’s not to like about moss? Not sure what type of moss this is but it is different than most I find on the mountain. This variety grows in large clumps.
This moss was covering large rocks.
I found a really large area of bright green color moss.
A white pine seedling growing in a large patch of moss.
The moss covers a lot of the large rocks.
Found these large icicles, the longest is about 12 inches long. After hiking for about an hour and fifteen minutes, I decided to head back to the house for hot chocolate!
Michael's Woodcrafts 
moss and ferns are two things we don’t get to see a lot of in texas. just too dang hot and dry for too much of the year. sure is pretty!
How pretty! I love moss, especially when it greens up after a rain. Those are wicked icicles! Thank you for more great photos- WG
Me too!
beautiful, soft, lush…I love moss and how delightful it is to the senses when most everything else is brown or grey…thank you for sharing Michael—How bout them Dawgs 🙂
Go Dawgs! I hope they can win as well as Clemson! 🙂
Nice photos, Michael. I love mosses but don’t see to much of them here. It’s just too darned hot for them. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
I used to love moss when I was a child because i could create a fantasy land around it . In India, some of the moss is used in medicine as well… So truly what’s not to like about it. Glad you enjoyed a wonderful hike michael 🙂
Thank you it was a nice hike but cold!
Moss is beautiful and to be treasured, we have quite a bit growing on rocks in the garden, the birds seem to like it to line their nests in the spring. It’s a long time since I saw icicles like that !
Nice pictures, too cold for hiking for me!!