This sign marks the start of the trail to Jardine Juniper. Please note that 5.2 miles is a bit beyond my winter snowshoeing/hiking capabilities. By our estimates, my sister and I hiked approximately 2.5 miles toward Old Juniper before we turned around. Also, please note that we did that 2.5 miles in 2 hours, whereas our 1.65 miles up Bunchgrass Creek Trail a week earlier took us 1 hour and 45 minutes. We went faster and farther this time. I give the credit to a packed trail and hiking sans snowshoes. We could have gone farther, but we'd left the snowshoes in the truck, and at the end we were breaking trail through snow that was above our knees at times. I dressed in layers, but my top layer was a loose pair of jeans (my ski pants make me too hot). All the knee-deep hiking was getting me soaked! Hence, we turned back.
A beautiful, sunny morning causes squinting for photos. We could not have asked for a better day -- warm, clear, gorgeous!
We came across this sign once we started on the switchbacks, before getting to the naturally occuring springs. It made us chuckle because at the first of our hike Sherri spied a milk jug lid in the snow. She went to pick it up to throw away later and discovered a 1/3 full milk jug of . . . well . . . let's just say it looked like Mountain Dew. Gross! We had a short conversation about what would prompt a guy (had to be a guy) to wee in a jug and then leave it under a tree. Weird. And wrong on all sorts of levels! In future, let's hope that all hikers follow the sign's advice.
This is the trail before we hiked through it, breaking trail for the 7 or so other snowshoers we passed coming up the trail as we were headed down. (It felt good knowing that we'd gotten farther than any other hikers in the past three days or so.)
Look closely. This is proof that the cartoons are right. A little snow rolling down the hill does form into a big wheel-like ball. This is photographic proof.All in all, it was a gret hike and a great workout.
3 comments:
This is a test. Of the emergency comment system. It is only a test. (Thanks for the heads-up Suko.)
More beautiful snow photos!
I recently spent some time in the snow here (yes, we get snow in SO CAL, at higher elevations). It was quite a workout!
Bwahaha! Are you going to include your great find along the trail in your next article? BTW my mom clipped your article from the HJ and mailed it to me. (What a great mom.) Very good. The pics were lovely. Pink is so cheery against the bright snow. Can't wait to read the next installment. :)
Update: Blood levels are normal, but they found two nodules on the right side. I have a biopsy Monday morning. Ick. Honestly, I've been more bummed out the past few days than I have in months. I was hoping that perhaps thyroid issues were to blame for some of the things bugging me about my body right now. I know that sounds lame, but I think you know what I mean. Having the blood tests come back normal sort of dashed my hopes of a possible fixer upper. I'll let you know when the biopsy results come back.
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