One of the sounds I dread most is that of tree limbs cracking under the weight of ice or heavy, wet snow. My heart goes out to the people in the central states who have been hearing that sound the past few days.

A lot of the snow has melted here and the footing was much better than I'd expected yesterday. As I got to the upper campground I heard what sounded like crows mobbing some raptor and sure enough, there was a beautiful barred owl in the pines.


(An old photo taken by Genie but it could be the same bird or a relative.)

It's almost a week now of less physical activity so I doubt I'll reach my goal by the end of the year. Phooey.