BZH and Franco had great suggestions. When looking for equipment for outdoors, you want the fastest lens. My most frequently used lens is my 50mm 1.8 because of it's ability to put more light into a scene than there really is. It works perfectly for indoor, low light, or in the woods where there is tree cover.

The problem with looking at mirror-less cameras is that their prices are going to be close to an entry-level DSLR. Right now you can get into a Nikon D7000 for less than $1,000 with a decent kit lens. If you go with something like that, try to find one that doesn't come with the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens. That's what came with my D80 and it's terrible. Before I got the 50mm, I had to shoot everything in RAW so that I could fix the white balance and saturation to look realistic. With a faster lens, something like a 1.8 or 1.4, you will almost eliminate the need to carry a flash as well.

And whatever you buy, get a polarizer filter for every lens and practice with it.