Hitting the Trail

Heading to Sharon's.
This new snow would be a problem for 
Bailey. We'll wait a few days before we head up together.
Click on photos to enlarge. 

After a 90-minute PCRE meeting, I dropped off Bailey at Sharon's, wrote for 2 hours, hiked 3.5 miles on Whitecap in heavy snow, and enjoyed coffee and conversation with Anne and Joe. What could be a better day?  

Several people had hiked Whitecap before I headed up. However, they missed a cut off on the Orange Trail, so I got to break trail... over a log bridge. Fun.  

Someone had skinned up. 

Second Connector Trail. 

Breaking trail over the first bridge. 

Whitecap stream. 

First bridge cleaned off... kinda.  

The Orange trail waiting to be broken. 

I've never seen a boat parked in the Whitecap trailhead parking lot. 

Michal's Holiday Card

Click on photo to enlarge. 

 

We received a fun holiday card from Michal (Slovakia, 2004), Hana, and Simon! Michal was here nearly 20 years ago. Wow! He loved soccer and skiing with the Mountain Valley HS kids. Now, he's all grown up... a dad, even! So wonderful to see his mom and dad, sister and brother. How lucky we were to know Michal and to have him in our extended family.    

Last Hike of 2023: #153

 Happy New Year from our Home to Yours

In 2023, most of our hikes were smaller mountains in the range of 3 - 4.5 miles. The rainy summer didn't help but the old bones slowed us down. But nevertheless, we got out there. That's the name of the game: Keep moving. 

Back-to-back hikes with the old dog

See the puppy in the Old Dog? Click on pictures to enlarge. 

On Christmas and Boxing Day, we ventured out after work, and between football games, to take small hikes on local mountains. These days it feel more like November or April than late December. Right now, I kind of like that, especially after the flood. 

I may have written this earlier on, but I'm too lazy to check, but hiking with Bailey is like hiking with a DEA sniffer dog. He doesn't let much pass by without a probing sniff. Rarely, is he in my sight. When I run into another hiker, I always ask, "Are you bothered by an unleashed dog?" They look around as if to say, "What dog?" "He's sniffing most everything about a quarter mile back."   

Hiking with Bailey these days also gets me thinking about our last hike together. With the condition of his hips, that last hike could be any day now. Last year on Whitecap Mountain, a hiker asked me why he was still hiking once she discovered his age. She went on to explain that her older dog had retired from hiking the year before. "Ah," I said. "Well, Bailey's a mountain dog and this is where he belongs."  

Whitecap

Christmas Day... up Yellow Trail to the Saddle; back down to the Connector Trail and across to Orange Trail and down. 

Boxing Day on Mystery Mountain

We hadn't been on Mystery Mountain for about a month or more. Even though it was a bit muddy, I enjoyed the hike. So'd Bailey... :-)