Final Winter Hike

Today is the last day of winter... the Eve of Spring. And I couldn't be happier to have this winter season behind us. Not that it was a terrible winter or especially long, but I have this bone-deep desire to walk a long distance without needing to trudge through snow or ice. I want to walk!

But even though I really want to move on to spring, our final hike of this winter season was pretty darn awesome!

Alan had never seen the old quarry on top of Rib Mountain and Charlie & I had never been up there in the winter, and since the weather was so gorgeous on Saturday, we all headed out to enjoy the new terrain together!

The trail is not very steep but there's a noticeable incline. We were definitely breathing heavier by the time we got up to the top. It seems this has been a busy trail over the winter; the snowpack on the trail was pretty dense and was becoming slippery as the sun began to warm the surface. I had a feeling this would be a challenge when we were ready to descend, but I decided to "be like a dog" and just focus on the present moment... enjoying the beautiful day.

Charlie romped around off-leash as Alan and I observed the quarry walls while shielding our eyes from the glaring sun. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sunny blueness was nearly blinding.

It's definitely hard to "treasure hunt" with a deep layer of snow still covering the landscape, but Alan managed to find a palm-sized heart-shaped rock to add to my collection. He's so sweet and thoughtful.

Charlie also found a treasure... a deer antler burr. The ironic thing was that Alan and I had planned on trying to train her to do some shed hunting (looking for naturally shed deer antlers), but haven't had time to work with her yet. Apparently she found one all on her own! She's a smart cookie.

We played fetch with her little antler burr for a bit, until I realized what it was and tried putting it in Alan's backpack to save for later. Charlie found it immediately and began jumping up trying to get it out of the backpack. Oh well. I gave it back to her, but she lost it a little while later. Figures.

Anyway, now that we know she's interested in finding antlers, we can work with her as the snow melts and see what we find!

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The walk down was slippery, as I had predicted. But we clomped through the crusty snow at the edge of the trail instead and no one fell.

Overall, it was a pretty short hike - only 2 miles. But the incline and challenging descent gave us a good workout and Charlie was ready for a nap when we got home. Good-bye winter! Hello Spring.

Rolling in Poop

The long drive leading into our favorite county park was almost impassable with deep slush and icy ruts that threatened to pull me off the road. Since we were already here, though, I made it in as far as the first parking area and compromised by hiking a different trail.

Sometimes it's nice to have new experiences rather than hiking the same trail all the time. But on today's hike, the different terrain just proved that I really love our "regular" trail. The new landscape was peaceful and quiet, but not quite as interesting or appealing to the eye as our other trails.

In any case, it was a beautifully mild day and we enjoyed the exercise. It's interesting how mid-30 degree temps in March can feel so much warmer than the same temp in January.

The air was more humid from the snowmelt, which somehow makes it feel warmer than the dry cold air of deep winter. I unzipped my coat during parts of the hike and even enjoyed the sensation of the occasional breeze flowing up my shirttails and onto my back. It was refreshing, not bone-chilling.

But the melting snow is unearthing treasures that have been locked in the layers of snow and ice... poop.

Charlie loves these treasures and apparently endeavors to *wear* these smells. I caught her rolling in four different piles of poop during our hike and she was so far off in the woods that by the time I caught up to her (yelling the whole time to "STOP!"), it was too late.

Ahh... the smell of spring.

Charlie in center behind tree... rolling in poop.

Poopy harness.

Luckily, the Ruffwear Webmaster Harness is machine washable and has held up great over the many years of use (and washings).

We often take breaks to play fetch on our hikes since it's Charlie's favorite! She's always carrying a stick around with her and trying to place it in front of me so I'll throw it. Sometimes I challenge her a bit by *pretending* to throw it one way but really throwing it somewhere else, and then we play "go find it." She LOVES doing nose-work and the challenge of finding something.

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Book Review - Author Tim Fox

Author, Tim Fox, uses my favorite part of Wisconsin as the setting in his books - the driftless area. His first book, "Journeys: An Ice Age Adventure," took place at Natural Bridge State Park near Baraboo. His newest book, "A Place for You," incorporates the same beautiful scenery from this part of the state.

Tim's books are perfect for young adult readers. He weaves a story that is easy to follow, uses language that is both familiar to that age group but also incorporates advanced vocabulary to incite further learning and better reading skills.

His recent book, "A Place for You," follows a young girl who has recently moved in with her aunt due to difficult family situations with her mom. She learns the value of hard work on a small farm - doing chores, respecting her elders and learning about nature. She quickly befriends a sick cat that she eventually adopts as her own and nurses back to health. Her new kitty encourages the young girl to take adventures in the woods and they develop a strong bond.

I have to admit, I'm not much of a "cat person" and although it seems hard to believe that a cat would go on these types of adventures, it's an endearing story and one that I think a lot of young adults could relate to and possibly even find a kind of healing in reading the story if they've gone through their own family struggles.

There are positive role models in this book who provide valuable lessons to the young girl along the way and the entire message of the book is one of hope and healing.

With spring break coming soon, it might be a good time to check out some of Tim Fox's books to give your kids something to do while on "vacation." Reading is such an important, and often overlooked, skill for young adults, so it's great to find books that make reading enjoyable and might even inspire adventures of their own!

In Like a Lamb

This time of year, there is a tiny sliver of time between when I get home from work and when the sun goes down. On these days when the temps get above freezing during the day, the snowbanks along the sidewalks melt. And it seems that the puddles and wet spots turn to ice the minute the sun goes down. Not ideal for walking.

Charlie and I have attempted walks after work almost every night this week and within a block I know I'm risking falling if I continue on. So, regrettably, I pull Charlie back home. I avoid her quizzical looks of "why are we going home already" because I have no way to explain to her just how dangerous the icy sidewalks are to me.

I loathe this time of year when it finally gets warm enough to walk but the icy sidewalks are just not worth the risk. It's such a tease.

In any case, I rushed home after work tonight to *hopefully* get a walk in before the sidewalks iced up.

And we got lucky! It worked. We had a beautiful walk while watching the end of the sunset and were surprised with a beautiful full rising moon!

It felt great to finally get some good walking in without the tense stiffness that I usually have after walking on ice.

Such a perfect way to start a new month!