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The trees are bare; so are the bones of the land. The leaves rustle underfoot. The day is bright even in the forest. Under the moon and stars, the night shimmers and the trails into the woods gleam softly.
Seen through a mile or so of tangled silver branches, the horizon beckons. I wonder about the wild lands, and what lies beyond the old well-trodden paths...
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Helen: What beautiful imagery! It makes me wish I were back in the Misty Mountains, or up in your 'neck of the woods' (so to speak). How wonderful to have beautiful forests to hike in each day...
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Each morning as we make camp, Caradhras looms ever closer upon the horizon until it seems to fill all the sky. The summit is blanketed in white, but we still hope to traverse the Pass in safety. 'Tis a shame that the rest of the Fellowship do not share our Elvish ability to walk upon the snow's surface. I'm glad Sam remembered to pack a couple of broad-bladed shovels among all that paraphernalia currently being carried by Bill. I think we're going to need it..
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All that day the Company remained in hiding. The dark birds passed over now and again; but as the westering Sun grew red they disappeared southwards. At dusk the Company set out, and turning now half east they steered their course towards Caradhras, which far away still glowed faintly red in the last light of the vanished Sun. One by one white stars sprang forth as the sky faded.
Guided by Aragorn they struck a good path. It looked to Frodo like the remains of an ancient road, that had once been broad and well planned, from Hollin to the mountain-pass. The Moon, now at the full, rose over the mountains, and cast a pale light in which the shadows of stones were black. Many of them looked to have been worked by hands, though now they lay tumbled and ruinous in a bleak, barren land...
The next morning dawned even brighter than before. But the air was chill again; already the wind was turning back towards the east. For two more nights they marched on, climbing steadily but ever more slowly as their road wound up into the hills, and the mountains towered up, nearer and nearer. On the third morning Caradhras rose before them, a mighty peak, tipped with snow like silver, but with sheer naked sides, dull red as if stained with blood.