This first one is from a trail in the Douglas State Forest. I'm not sure if I like the black and white effect better than the original, but I just couldn't seem to capture the feel correctly with the color version. It was a fairly dark, quiet section of the trail, with tall pines providing overhead cover.
On the same hike, there are a few of these watering hole type things. I'm not sure what their original purpose was 100 or so years ago - maybe the area was all farmland and these things were used for gathering water? Or maybe someone was bored and without the distractions of the Internet they spent their free time digging holes and lining them with rocks. I find it interesting that there are steps built into it. Maybe it was so the person could easily climb out after they finished digging the hole. Heh.. yeah, that's gotta be it.
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