The Great Trail & a little "hope"

The star word for today was "Breathe"!  Breathe deeply and breathe in the fresh air!  Well, not only was the air fresh this morning it was cold, bitterly cold.  Today was my walk day although I was wishing it was not.  But it was and I was not changing that fact.  I did change the planned location though.  After the new snow and being so cold and roads not at their best, I opted to walk from home instead of hop in the car.  

I aimed for The Great Trail.  I hiked off in this direction once before but this time I took the rougher route instead of the main trail.  There were many single track trails around this area so I took to them.   It was not the prettiest day, it was dismal and grey.  Yet, I still found a way to love my walk.  

We received a light dusting of snow last night which created a perfect canvas!

It was a very quiet morning out here.  

I noticed foot prints from yesterday and a fat biker this morning.  

While I saw the track, I did not see the biker.  

Otherwise, it was just me here.  

noticing the little things

I see the mountains in the middle between the towers.

After meandering here and there but not quite every where out along The Great Trail, I then worked my way back along the Creek.  Next came climbing back up out of the valley and aiming for the Birth Forest.

The Birth Forest always brings...

Two hours later I was back home.  Before heading out, I took one of my books out and placed it on the coffee table.  Between sipping the hot chocolate and turning the pages of the memory book, I warmed up quite quickly!  I am sure all you local mountain people recognize the location on the cover.

You notice the title of this blog post The Great Trail & a little "hope", well here is a little hope.  I had this rock for quite some time and a few months ago began to paint a mountain scene on it.  It was not looking good at all and I lost interest.  I left it as it was and returned it to the basement.  A few days ago I was doing my daily sketch.  I was feeling hopeful and heartfelt and I put that feeling on paper.  My mind went to work, I took that rock back up from the basement, painted over the partial mountain scene with a few layers of white and added a little hope!  The rock is eight inches by four inches. It now sits where I see it every day.

today's 9 km route