Hiking

[Catrin]

Had a lovely 3.25 mile hike today with several hiking friends from church. At 45 degrees the trails were fully thawed...and quite sloppy. That is usually a trail that takes just over 1 hour, but it took a full 1.5 hours today as it was SO muddy in places that we had to pick our way through to keep from falling. Very thankful for my trekking poles for sure! I can handle falling and getting muddy, that's no problem. The problem is my track record these last two years when I've fallen, I just have too many broken bits to risk it.

I did enjoy the hike, mud and all. I do still have shin splints in one leg but the other is healed - which is why I headed for the 3.25 mile trail rather than the 4.4 mile option. Bit by bit! I will relax, and work on my Tai Chi form later tonight.

[emily_in_nc]

Good for you, Catrin! I have a real aversion to walking or hiking in mud. I just hate how it gets stuck in every crevice of my boot or shoe sole and builds up. Feels very yucky to me, not to mention the difficulty cleaning up afterwards. In NC we used to hike at the Eno River State Park often on weekends, and when the trails were frozen in the coldest winter mornings, I enjoyed it so much more than when things thawed out and brought the mud!

[Catrin]

Good for you, Catrin! I have a real aversion to walking or hiking in mud. I just hate how it gets stuck in every crevice of my boot or shoe sole and builds up. Feels very yucky to me, not to mention the difficulty cleaning up afterwards. In NC we used to hike at the Eno River State Park often on weekends, and when the trails were frozen in the coldest winter mornings, I enjoyed it so much more than when things thawed out and brought the mud!

It's certainly nicer when it's frozen - I didn't think it would be THAT muddy. It could have been worse however, and the trekking poles provide stability.

[Crankin]

Did a 4.7 mile hike this morning on a new (to us) set of trails in Concord. After dropping my car off for an oil change, we headed to the trail head in DH's car, about 2 miles away. It was very confusing, in an area of private roads/driveways, but after a few circles, we found it. The first part, a client had told me about, as it's a back door way to get down to Walden Pond, avoiding the state park parking lot fee. That part I remember! We were following a route on All Trails, but when it's cold out, the phone's battery is affected, so I made DH bring his hiking GPS, too, so we could mark the beginnning and have a way to get us back if the phone died. It did get very low on batteries, so we were glad we had the GPS, as this area is just full of trails, both Concord Conservation land and into the town of Lincoln. After skirting the pond, we went down, down, and turned toward Fairhaven Bay, which is part of the Sudbury River. We actually were right along the water's edge for a long time, and there were signs that this area is seasonally flooded. Then, we thought we were almost back, but we had about another mile.
There was a little elevation at the end, which was good. Nice scenery, and aside from the tourists we saw at Walden (4), only saw 3 other hikers. The trail was partially snow covered, with ice in a lot of places, so we were glad we wore our spikes.
The snow is falling steadily now, and they have upped our amounts since last night. My granddaughter was supposed to sleep over, but DS cancelled, as it's a 20 mile drive for him to get her here. So... I predict I will be x country skiing tomorrow.

[Crankin]

Did a 4.7 mile hike with my cycling group today. It's super warm out (50s), but the roads are slopped with melting snow from overnight rain, so no official ride. It was a nice hike, from Walden Pond, but across the street from the pond, so not where I was last weekend. I took the opportunity to buy my lifetime senior parking pass for the state parks, which I still hate doing, but after buying the national parks one, I am sort of over it.
This was totally in conservation land in the town of Lincoln, MA. I had been to the very beginning part, but the rest was all new. Due the melting snow, I was unsure about wearing my microspikes, but I did for 3/4 of the hike and although there was some clumping over snow and leaves in the cleats, they were useful in some spots. We got to a totally clear area and we wee near the end, so I took them off. Off ocurse, 2 seconds after that, we were back in the snow and I slipped, but it was a kind of down on one knee, barely and I sprung up, to the amazement of the people behind me. Embarrassing, but at least I wasn't splayed across the trail!
Getting up my motivation to do some work now.

[ny biker]

For situations when your phone battery might run low, it's great to have one of those portable lithium ion batteries that you can plug the phone into. I got one before a trip a couple of years ago to keep my tablet charged in case my flight was delayed; didn't need it then but I used it last summer when I was listening to Cape League baseball games on my phone. They really come in handy and are small and light. And not expensive.

I didn't realize that Walden Pond was in your area. We are looking at another trip to Massachusetts next summer so I will add it to the list of possible places to visit.

[Crankin]

Walden Pond is about 4 miles from my house. I would be happy to be your guide through all historic sites!
Yeah, DH ordered some super chargeable battery case for his phone that allows you to charge the case itself, which extends the battery life of the phone. Not sure I understand the premise as of now, but it is arriving tomorrow, and we will use Saturday. He decided not buy the Apple version, so it's a Chinese product. We shall see if it works.
I used to take my kids to Cape Cod League games every summer. It was a lot of fun.