Thursday -- Breaking Trail

Well Thursday was the first day this year I was able to get to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. I had grand ideas of hiking with Charlie along the Wintergreen trail.

Easy, right? This is one of the most traveled trails in the Reserve. I slipped on my YakTracks in case it was slippery and tossed Charlie's day glow vest on him.

I was very surprised when we got past the buildings. 

Not one human had been down this trail yet. I should have worn snowshoes. 
Right away, Charlie kept getting stuck. Fresh powdery snow went down the front of his vest and clogged him down. I picked him up and we slogged through the deep snow...again.

By the time we got to the 'lookout' I was getting tired and decided that we would go no further. I reached down and pulled ice and packed snow out of his vest. I took it off and stuck it in the backpack.

The view from the bluff was interesting. I didn't get near the edge of the bluff so I took my shot from further back. 

I think it is the second time I've seen the river completely covered in ice and snow at this spot. The wind was coming right into our faces there so we didn't stick around. 

Enough was enough I was heading back.

Charlie was a different dog then. He took off bounding through the snow without a care. I had to call him back to me. What a good little guy.

 5 seconds....of a Happy Dog.

From there on, he led the way back to the parking lot.

That black dot far ahead of me is Charlie. He was bounding through my footsteps and having a grand time.

Did we get in a lot of miles? Oh heck no we didn't. 

I wonder how one mile of chugging through deep snow works out?

I guess it doesn't really matter. We enjoyed it and we were happy to get home and cuddle in the warmth of the living room.

Today is the 20th and so far I have racked up 18 miles of hiking/walking/adventuring. 

This doesn't include the days I didn't take my cell phone but I don't care. It is fun to track right now. 

Yesterday afternoon I took a break from the cold and spent time reading and relaxing.

Let's see what the weekend brings.

Hiemal and Apricity & heaters

[see the little black doggy in the far 

left side of the photo?]

Hiemal:
of or relating to Winter

Apricity:
the warmth of the Winter Sun

These odd words are pretty accurate at describing my latest hiking adventures. While in the woods and out of the wind, I can appreciate Apricity.

When moving into the deep valleys I enjoy Hiemal temperatures in the shaded part. 

However, Olive and I found a rather warm area next to one of the large caves we found. She basked in sun.

We trekked along the bluffs to find the large bluff rock with a 'hole' in it.

The orange arrow points to where I was...

I did NOT venture out on the rock. The top of it was covered in ice... even Charlie didn't venture any further.

We headed up along a hogback ridge and found a spot to sit and have snacks and take a breather. 

My goal this month was to find out if one could get to the top of that bluff. 

I sure felt humbled by finding that spot and observing the river from 80 feet above it.

Now to return when the ice is gone and explore the narrow and very steep valley below it. Will it give me an entrance to that 'hole'? I don't know yet.

Olive said this is what she had needed before her work week. She needed to get the cobwebs out of her head and fresh air into her lungs. 
She likened our little adventure to Lewis and Clark.

I laughed and said that it was better to be Lewis and Clark than Thelma & Louise -- because that relationship ended badly!

Heaters ~~~

When I got home I found out that the motor and fan on our heater was screaming and misbehaving. It screeched and groaned and made the awful-ist noises. It had been getting worse over the all week.

At 8PM, Olive showed up with 3 large space heaters. I turned off the offensive heater and we temporarily solved the problem with one space heater. 

Now to go on and start with phone calls to replace this heater.
Photo from 2016 when the Cabin Heater was installed. Direct Vent LP heater. For our Tiny Home we use about 200 gallons of LP per winter. So it has done a great job so far. Our last heater of the same kind lasted 15 years before we replaced it.

Of course this week promises to be fraught with horrible winter weather all week. So any chance of fixing our heat right away may be an issue.

This morning I made some phone calls. Now I wait for someone to get back to me.