After a monochrome walk into Chagford yesterday under solid grey skies; today patches of blue sky and sun helped bring back some colour. Vibrant lime green of moss, growing on granite boulders and bronze beach leaves on the smallest trees are highlighted by the remaining patches of snow beneath. the melt is truly underway.
On the hillside the leats are brim-full and the River Teign below is wider and faster than we have seen it over the past year. Boulders along the bank are submerged and the occasional tree appears to be growing directly out of the river.
A walk down the hillside and into the woods reveal tracks of animals in the remaining snow that have us puzzling. Walking through the wood it is clear that only a few people and a dog or two have been this way before us.
Further along the river, the stepping stones that thwarted me on our visit last Easter, leaving me bruised for weeks, are now completely invisible.
Underfoot the brilliant white snow has turned to grey slush on the bridleway, and walking boots are proving not to be as waterproof as they were once.