An early "spring" hike

To quote a cartoon my mom sent me recently, "Spring forward? How frigging far did you move it?". At least there has been more sun and birds, even if the ground is still covered with way too much snow and the temps have still been in the late winter zone.

Last weekend we went on what felt like an epic hike. It was only 2 miles, but it's one of those winding trails where I can never remember how far along we are. Plus, there were lot of ups and downs, which happened to be covered in some serious ice/snow, so it was often slow going. Thankfully it was enough above freezing that the ice wasn't super hard, and most of the time we could get decent traction. All in all, we had a blast, though the girls were very happy to get home to some hot cocoa.

Clara and Papa, slip-sliding away.

Lucy, queen of the boulder!

Such a sweet father-daughter picture.

And another one!

Fording one of the many streams.

Striking a pose.

Clara's "walking stick", which she explained to me would help her not slip on the ice.

Me and my girls. I only carried Clara for the last little stretch- I was proud of both her and Lucy's stamina and perseverance!