A Walk in the Woods

What a joy it is to be feeling spring again. Our winters sure are long and dreary, but they make spring so scrumptious. We revel in the warmth of the sun, the melting of the snow, the drying of the mud and the rebirth of nature.

Thursday we had a play date with some of our best friends. We were able to be outside most of the visit. We took a hike along a wood road behind their home. The views were beautiful and there were signs of spring here and there.

Gabe wanted me to take a picture of this vine growing

up the tree. It was very fuzzy and looked like a big caterpillar.

Across the reservoir and in one of the small valleys is our home. We couldn't see our house from here, but I could locate the general area.

As you can see the trees are still waiting for some more warmer weather. Before we know it they will be greening up and exploding with freshness (and pollen for all the allergy sufferers).

Happy hikers (Jonathan gets to ride)
We found several vernal pools and some frog eggs. Gabe and Ben each wanted to bring them home, so we took a small clump and slit it for the boys. The eggs do not look like Peeper eggs, so we will see what ends up hatching out.

Brian's day in the woods

Brian headed out this morning for a day of hiking with Dad and Uncle Larry. Dad was in search of "Deck's camp, a friend of his from many years ago. Dad used to hunt deer with Deck out of his camp. The camp had been burned down quite a few years ago.

It was a beautiful day...clean, bright blue sky, cool temps to make for good hiking. The area they were hiking was higher in elevation. There was some snow on the ground and ice on the trees.

Ice on the tree tops

The terrain is not easy. After you leave the wood road, there are no trails, except those made my animals. There were lots and lots of animal tracks in the new snow....moose, deer, bear, rabbit, coyote and more. Brian said the snow was littered with tracks.

Dad bushwhacking through the woods

After several hours of hiking, they found the clearing where the old camp used to stand. The state burned the camp down as it had been built on state land. I guess they have cracked down on all the camps that have been built over the years on state property.

Dad and Brian standing in the clearing

where the camp once stood

There next quest was a very small camp that was always called Armstrong's camp. It was a very small camp with barely enough room for one, but a place for a hunter to get out of the weather, get warm, cook a meal and sleep. After a lot of searching, they finally spotted it. Dad was so happy to have found it and find it still intact. Not much has changed except it is slowly sinking into the ground as the bottom logs rot out. It was built in the 1920s. Dad took GPS coordinates so he can easily find it again.

Uncle Larry and Dad in front of Armstrong's camp

Overall, the day was a huge success. Great hiking, super company and they were able to accomplish their goal of finding the two camps. Brian was just in amazement at the stamina of Dad and Uncle Larry. Dad just celebrated his 71st birthday and Uncle Larry is a few years older. They started hiking at 10am this morning and except for a few brief stops to rest and eat their sandwiches, they hiked until 6pm. Dad figured they went about 8 miles.

By the time they were heading out, it had gotten dark. Bri said the moon was bright and the woods were beautiful. He had a great day.

We didn't make it to church today. Not really sure why, except that everyone was tired. Dan and Hannah were up at 5:30 and didn't go back to bed and made sure that everyone else was awake too! I'm hoping the new sleeping arrangements will settle down soon. Gabe did stay in his new room all night! Way to go Gabe!

Dan loves big brother Gabe

After lunch we decided to go for a hike. We had found a cache in this area before, but didn't get a chance to finish the trail has it had gotten too dark. We brought along a travel bug to drop off at the cache and then continued along the trail.

Carter's Pond

It was a beautiful day and a great hike. The kids had a good time. So many of the leaves have already fallen and along the pond you could see quite a few bare trees. We say a Great Blue Heron. They are so large and the coloring of their feathers is striking.

Enjoing the hike

Brian cleaned the woodstove chimney and the woodstove. We are all set to go if the weather turns real cold.

I made De'Etta's chicken divan tonight and it was a big hit. That one goes into the "recipes to keep" file.

I took a nice long, hot tub tonight and then settled in for some cross-stitching. A pretty good day overall.