Well, with rain in the forecast for this weekend, I woke up to surprisingly clear skies on Saturday. The temperature was right at freezing, but it was shaping up to be a pretty nice day. So I had to get out for a hike. With all the snow yet in the hills though, and me being pretty out of shape with not having hiked for a month, I decided Rattlesnake would be the best option, much as I’d like to do something else.
I started at 9 and there were a number of others already there, not crowded yet, but it would be. I took my pack and poles, and kept a steady, albeit slower, pace than normal. I really didn’t feel too out of shape in my legs, but I was breathing a bit harder. There was light intermittent snow on the trail for the first 1.75 miles, then significantly more the last quarter, and ICY too. Not much problem going up but it would be slow coming down. I had my yaxtrax with me but decided not to use them for such a short distance. Wasn’t a problem.
There were a few quieter groups up on top, while I rested and had some hot chocolate. Looking down I could see many cars coming so I knew it would be a very busy day. The snow was melting already on my way down and I got back to the truck a little after 11.
The rest of my day was spent extending the yard trail around the east side of the house in the woods. I had the chainsaw, a shovel and a rake, and hand pruners, and this time of year, with no green growth it was real easy to pick my way thru the brush. There were several downed trees to cut a path through, and several roots to dig around and cut as well. I’ve got one more extention from east to west across the front of the yard to do next, maybe tomorrow if it doesn’t rain again, then the neighbor kids will have extended pathways to run around. I’ve also found the elk use them too, so I’m hoping it will help keep them more on the trail and less in the yard.
An update to the range installation below – I posted a picture of the old original stove to compare. Scroll down two messages….