Elf and safety?

This is the forestry track that runs from Kilmun Arboretum along the hillside above Loch Eck. All summer there was a great pile of logs on the bank to the left of this picture, and on more than one occasion we came upon someone perched on top of the pile, cutting logs off with the purpose of taking them home for the fire - you can see the sawdust still covering the bank. But this afternoon we found the logs moved from the bank and laid flat on the other side of the track, and we wondered if someone had come to a sticky end or if this was merely done in anticipation.

The picture makes it look quite light, but we felt it was actually the sawdust and the golden larch needles on the road that made it look this way, as it was already very gloomy. I love the ghostly, drooping larches on the right - the source of the golden needles.

By the time we got back to the Arboretum car park we could barely see our feet. Memo to self: take a torch next time ...