over the river and through the woods

the day: january 13. one of those not too warm, not too cold days, not that windy either, and not at all sunny. all in all, a very 'not-able' day.

the adventure: given the sub zeros we had at the beginning of the week, my guess was the river was now frozen enough to get across. i hadn't yet walked that way to work this school year--it was time to give it a try. going the backway, makes my commute about a mile and a half, with the majority off road. tricky part is always getting on and off the river, especially when things freeze up at high water and later lower. the drop leaves a sliding board along the edges.

the memories: from freeze up to when i crossed, 2-3 inch thick ice had fallen nearly three feet. that left a good size strip of slushy water over large broken chunks at the bottom of the slide getting onto the ice. getting off was just a snowy slide, but stomping on the ramp for traction going up the bank, i broke through to the river. 

notes: it was fun to be able to take the winter path again and avoid rt 4.

• i was not the only life walking on the ice. most likely the other tracks going up and down the river were coyote.
• in the woodsy section, i cleared a couple of minor blowdowns by hand--no saw was needed.
• retracing my steps home, i noticed a lot of other tracks had followed mine--only not across the ice.

go outside and play!