As I pull into the driveway at 1:00am, a large doe jumps over the stone wall and runs across the driveway. Looking into the shadows of the front yard, we spot four more deer helping themselves to the remaining apples that hang from our apple trees. With 2008 only an hour old, it looks likes it could be an interesting year for us. By 7:30am I'm ready to start the New Year off with a hike. Having the weatherman forecasting stormy weather for the day, I take my dog Grady and head down the road for the Otis Smith Farm Trail. In 2000 The Cumberland Land Trust obtained the 53 acre Otis Smith property from Brown University to remain as open greenway space for hiking, wildlife and nature lovers.

Arriving at the trailhead I notice by the tracks in the snow that Grady and I are the first to traverse the trail this year. The trail follows the bottom of a large rock out crop, meandering through a hardwood forest of ash, oak and hickory. Stopping near some small boulder caves I check the ground for signs of the fisher-cat I saw here last week. All I find are old tracks of the animal and several deer tracks. I wonder if the tracks were from the small herd of deer that was in my yard earlier. Continuing down into the col I watch my chocolate lab doing the doggy slide down the slope on his back. Crossing two stone walls the trail turns and follows the embankment of a long forgotten cannel most likely dug for farmland irrigation. As the trail turns once more to follow the shoreline of Lippit Pond I hear two ice fishermen talking. Grady and I continue as the trail heads south up a rocky climb, traversing the bottom of Sunset Rock to our left and a wooded wetland on our right. Crossing the trail is a deer path that looks like a highway for deer its so wide and deep. Checking out I spot a deer rub on a tree and several scuffmarks in the ground. Making a mental note to come back here at the end of February or March to check for dropped antlers we move on to climb Sunset Rock. Reaching the summit a nice view to the west is offered and I notice the clouds are moving in. Getting ready to leave a redtail hawk cries out and for the next five minutes an aerial pursuit goes on with the redtail chasing a black bird. In the end the redtail goes hungry at least for the time being and we head home as the dark clouds move in.