Night 40

Hi, and welcome back!

Last night I went out to the tent around 9:30.  That's kind of early for me on a weekend, but I was tired from Friday night, when I went to bed later than usual.  Last night I started out in my parents' bed watching a movie, and I had to go out before I accidentally fell asleep inside.

I fell asleep almost instantly because I was already tired, so not much happened last night.  The temperatures were in the high teens/low 20s, so dad and I were just as comfortable and warm as the previous night--maybe even warmer.

This morning we got up around 7:15 and were hiking by 7:35.  Although there was just as much snow as the day before, I didn't feel the need to wear crampons, because most of the snow was packed down and stable.

Sunrise on Sunday

Due to the wind, the snow on the hill had little ridges in it, almost as if it had been sculpted.  And the wind blowing the snow around had filled in our footprints, even though we didn't get any new snow.

When my dad and I time ourselves, we start in our backyard and stop when we reach the tree that we say roughly marks the top of the hill.  We usually hit the tree with our walking sticks to mark the top.  We're not sure how far it is, but we're pretty sure it's about a mile.

Topping Out

My dad and I have agreed that whenever we make the top in under 16 minutes, we will reward ourselves with a piece of beef jerky (right now we're working through the bag that the Smiths gave us). This morning we reached the top in just under 15 minutes, so I gave dad two little pieces and had two big ones myself.  I even gave a piece to Maisy!

Speaking of Maisy, we took some video of her this morning.  She's like this every hike--tail up, nose down, running around sniffing.

I hope you have a great week and keep reading!

L.R.C.