Longer Days, Friday the 13th

Here is Charlie giving me a good morning yawn. Yes, he does have his very own kitchen chair that he sits on anytime I am having coffee or eating. 

 

When it starting getting light out we bundled up and headed out for a walk. It was in the teens when we left the house and headed for the ridge.

We are back to doing our dawn walks as the days are a bit longer and when weather was nice. 

This is what we saw in a rather cloudless sunrise.

When we walked to the top of the ridge and looked down across the ridge towards the valley. I saw this.

It was a golden morning.

And it was mesmerizing.

It was a day of activity.  I did CrossFit at the gym with alternating doing 2 minutes of jumping rope and two minutes of deadlifts. 

On my way home I saw Olive and her hubby trying to move a round bale. I stopped and helped out. Three humans acting together can move about 900 lbs of hay.

Charlie and I took off for an afternoon hike. The weather was just too pleasant to stay cooped up in the house.

You guessed it, we went to hunt ice.

Cell phone shot

My Oly Camera

I counted 6 ice flows while walking this trail. I knew of two but over the years I've missed the others. I suspect the melt, the freezing at night, and warming during the day helped create them.

I also know that I couldn't have seen them under the blanket of snow the last time I hiked this trail.

Below is where two ice flows empty into the Kickapoo River.

Little Charlie thought he could just walk up the ice flows. 

He kept trying, he is persistent! Must be the Dachshund in him.

I went above him and when he tried again I assisted by grabbing him by the scruff. 

He was so proud of himself after that. 

Cellphone shot

This was an insanely difficult light to photograph in.  The bright white shiny ice, deep shadows, and brilliant skies make for interesting contrasts but hard to 'get' right in camera. It often confuses the sensors.

I've only hiked this trail in the morning hours and this was the first time with the afternoon sun.

My cellphone actually handled it a bit better than I did. But I guess that is the fun of it all.

Cellphone shot of the area I explored.

It is very steep.

Climbing in and out of there demands the use of saplings, bushes, and trees and a keen sense of balance.

We made it safely to the end of the trail and enjoyed a break from hiking on 'our' log. Dog Cookies, water, and pretzels for me.

The end of the day was as beautiful. I don't think we've seen such a pretty sunset in ages here.

We decided to skip Saturday doings for obvious reasons.

With the nice weather, I worked at raking up pine cones and picking up sticks. I had 3 large wheelbarrows full by mid afternoon. 

When spring does arrive, perhaps I'll have a bit less to rake up.

Onward.