Birthday Exploration

Birthdays are time to Carpe Diem. So I told myself at 5 o'clock this morning when I couldn't get my eyes open. It took several attempts but I managed to drag myself out of bed and pack my hiking bag. It was my birthday and I was going to celebrate with a morning in the mountains with Kona Dog.
We set out towards our familiar Peak, with the plan to head beyond our usual vista to a lookout point on the ridge above. While I was both apprehensive and excited about exploring new terrain, I had no idea of all the small treasures we would find along the way.

We saw a golden eagle, passed through a graveyard of burned oak groves, punched through crusty snow (snow!) left from Monday's storm, found bear tracks, and learned that old trail runners without remaining tread make for slow-going on downhill snow/ice (renamed, snice) patches. (Many apologies. My camera lost it's battery toward the beginning of our trek. My last attempted shot was of a patch of frozen grass. Had I known the scenes ahead, I may have saved that lost shot).

Upon arriving home, Kona and I celebrated a good morning together. She had two slices of Canadian baken. I had two brownies. With glucose levels restored, I decided to buy myself a birthday present--a new pair of running shoes.