No hike today

Instead of hiking today, I am nursing a cold I seem to have picked up in the past couple of days. It started out with a very scratchy throat, cough, and a general feeling of malaise. But I did think it was getting better, and I even made plans for the hike today.

But last night, I woke several times with a very sore throat and lots of congestion, making my desire to go along on the hike with my friends seem a whole lot less appealing. Plus the possibility of rain was the clincher, seeing as it would not be a good idea to make myself sicker. So I reluctantly stayed home and thought about my usual Thursday post and what I would write about instead of posting lovely pictures of my day's journey into the mountains. Today might be the last time for our visits to the High Country, as this front might bring enough snow for us to start our hikes around town. Today is our last scheduled trip up there anyway, but if the weather cooperates we might make it one more time.

I have to reluctantly conclude that my little one-legged chickadee has been recycled, as he has not appeared in the last two days. I suspect that the fluttering wing he needed to use to compensate for the recently lost leg was enough to entice a raptor to check him out. If by some chance he does return, I will rejoice and let you know right away. But the signs are not good.

On a positive note, however, I watched the miners in Chile yesterday, being pulled out of the ground and was able to celebrate along with the rest of the world at their amazing rescue. It was horrible to contemplate them being down here for several more months. The fact that everything proceeded with such speed and competence was an inspiration to me: a situation that seems entirely hopeless can actually have a good outcome, given enough ingenuity and perseverance.

I have purchased a set of snowshoes so I can hopefully take advantage of the forecasted snow this winter. We have a moderate to strong La Niña in progress, which usually brings the Pacific Northwest more precipitation and colder temperatures during the winter. Although I am not looking forward to the moderate temperatures leaving town, I had so much fun using (and breaking!) Al's spare snowshoes that I had to buy a pair for myself. They look just like this picture, MSR Evo 22's in a nice sedate blue.

As you can see, today's snowshoes bear little resemblance to the old ones that looked to me a whole lot like a tennis racket, and using these strapped onto my regular hiking boots are very easy to use. If I have the chance to be in deep powder I'll need a pair of tails added onto them, but it's not that likely in this area. Last year we had what is affectionately known as "Cascade cement" and expect that to be more like what we'll have this year. But you never know.
:-)