Kisatchie Splendors

She Walks in Beauty

I had just 30 minutes to spare when I arrived in the vicinity of Camp Hardtner this morning for a Congregational Vitality Institute day. So I turned west on FS 120, just across from the southern entrance to Camp Hardtner, drove about a mile and parked at the end of this old logging road.

Last summer I set out to find an area of the Kisatchie that was reasonably close to home, an area along Hwy 165 where I could easily stop en route to and from Alexandria and Camp Hardtner. This was my third visit and I love the place more each time.

This morning, after parking my car and getting out, my phone rang and it was an important call. I leaned against the back of my CRV facing the road, finished the phone call, then got my camera off the front seat and began walking down this road. I had gone no more than a few feet when a young deer--probably last year's fawn, based on size--bolted from a thick patch to my left.

I was still adjusting the camera, setting shutter speed and depth of field, checking white balance, deciding which lens to use, etc. But, you know, it didn't matter. I just stood there and watched the deer, all rimmed in morning light, bound across the path about 70-80 yards in front of me.

See it? Of course you do!