It's finally winter...

... and I don't mean that in the sense of "phew, it's finally winter".  No, more like "wow, it sure was nice not having winter for while, but I guess it's finally here."  1 degree (F) when I awoke.  Can you have only one?  Aren't they normally plural?  Hey, at least the sun is shining!  It's a great day to sit inside and look outside.

Or dress really warmly.  That mostly works too.  But if it does get back above freezing this week and melts all the remaining snow, I won't mind.  I really, really won't.  Go ahead, I dare ya.

So anyway, yesterday was chilly too, but not as cold as today, so I chose yesterday for a hike in the Catskills.  I could have done it on snowshoes, but opted to go the "sneaker" route as long as that still works.  Just a bit crusty with a light layer of fluff.  There must be a food analogy, but for the life of me I can't come up with one right now.

Baby, it's cold outside...

In case you couldn't see the snow in the last picture, here's a close-up:

The fun part of snow is being first on the trail and trying to figure out the animal tracks - these look canine, maybe coyotes?  The tracks were blown over in places and at least a day old, but they stayed with the Escarpment Trail for a few miles (and maybe further, as I turned down onto a side trail from there).

View toward Albany:

A photogenic ice formation:

The creek ain't frozen over yet, but it's getting there...

The top item on this sign is one of the hardest 0.9 miles I've ever done in the middle of a 30K trail race...

I was going to attempt a few miles of running today, but I found out that Pine Ridge XC ski area is actually open - so I went to try out my new boots and the skis Dad gave me.  They worked great, and I determined that if you work hard enough (and wear enough layers) you can reach a warm steady state.  Just don't stop for a picnic.