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Spring hiking
April 14, 2010
Spring is coming to the Maine mountains, in its usual slow but steady course. The trees are still tightly budded or just starting to show pretty little leaves. This past weekend was the first I'd seen any blooming wildflowers this season, violets to be specific.
This is a wonderful time for hiking. Not too hot, not too cold and still no bugs, which is a gift for Maine hiking.
It was a beautiful day but mentally and physically exhausting for me. I was tired before we even left the house. It was all I could do to hike my you-know-what up to 3000 some feet and back down again, for a total of 6.5 miles which took us 6 hours with play breaks and lunch.
But I did it. We did it. This weekend coming up we're taking a break from hiking, much to everyone else's dismay (I thought the children might appreciate a break from climbing mountains, I was wrong). The break won't last long though because the next weekend we're off to backpack - our earliest in the season trip ever.
The demands of spring hit hard both on the trail and at home. The warming mountains beckon us and are a delight to hike before black fly season starts. At the same time we are facing end-of-winter home repairs, yard clean up and garden prep. It's a crunch season to be sure and I'm doing my best to handle it with grace and perspective.
PS. Spring is starting in earnest in our backyard and I am excited to share some of those pretty photos soon. Also reminding you we have a new photo blog of our family adventures if you are interested in outdoorsy/nature photography.
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daffodil lane on April 14, 2010, 10:18 p.m.
I am leaving this comment just to say you look pretty. :) At least your left side does, anyway.
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Alisha on April 14, 2010, 10:33 p.m.
That sounds fun! We had our first fishing trip of the year Monday. It wasn't spectacular on the catch, but it was great to be out, doing something different, seeing Spring wake from her slumber all around us.
Love the picture of the moss between the boulders and I like your earrings!
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Rana on April 15, 2010, 12:45 a.m.
We were supposed to go on a hike this weekend. It didn't pan out last weekend. We'll see how it goes.
I love the picture of the wild flowers. Everything is so green.
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Mel on April 15, 2010, 1:22 a.m.
I went for a little solo hike last weekend and it was lovely. I hit snow about 0.5 miles in, but even that was ok. It takes a little longer for spring to reach Montana mountains. Hope you are refreshed in time for your backpacking trip!
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renee on April 15, 2010, 12:08 p.m.
Damien informs me these photos looked washed out on his laptop. I viewed them and I concur. Too bad. They look nice on my monitor. Sorry all if they look nasty to you. I can't stand to look at super saturated photos on my computer.
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Kimberly on April 15, 2010, 3:19 p.m.
They look great on my laptop. We were outside all day yesterday. No hiking just lots of play and a long nature walk between parks. I don't really know what a season is since I am a native Texan, but we did have to break out the sunscreen and lather up yesterday! Who knows what today will bring.
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nicola@which name? on April 16, 2010, 4:46 p.m.
I think the photos, your kids, and you all look beautiful. Sometimes, try as we might, we cannot capture in a photo the beauty of what we are seeing. Nicola
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Deb J on April 14, 2010, 10:08 p.m.
Since I now live in the Phoenix, Arizona area, we don't have such an abrupt change in our weather. While I miss the seasons in many ways, I don't really miss the snow, ice, and humidity. It's great to see you pictures.