Spring is officially here!

Well, we finally did it!  We went hiking for the first time in 2014.

It was so nice out today that we decided to take Maddy and hit the trails at the Dundas Conservation Area. Got a little worried as we entered their main gate - they had a sign out that said "Trails Closed today". We talked to the lady at the gate and she said they had to put the sign out because the trails were very icy.

They were right on that one! Some of the trails were so icy that we had to go cross-country (i.e. through the bushes) to avoid sliding down a hill and not being able to get up. I even took the cap off the end of my hiking stick to make it into an ice pick.  Lots of slush (it was +10C), lots of ice, lots of mud, and lots of new rivers everywhere.

First hike of 2014

Maybe a few more days of warmer weather and we will lose some of the ice and snow. Can't imagine that the mud will disappear until late April though...