Is Spring On Its Way?

I don't know if it is!  I checked the weather reports for this week, and we are on schedule to get an inch of snow several times this week, followed by rain!  Since Wednesday is officially the first day of spring, our weather is really not acting that spring-y!  Winter just doesn't want to leave!  But, we have been enjoying warmer days and more sunshine, which has been nice!  Have been doing a lot of hiking lately since the snow has been melting, and just enjoying being outside. 

One thing I dislike about spring here in the north, is what happens when the snow melts... everything turns brown and very, very, very muddy! Oh the mud!  I can't hardly tolerate it, and yet it seems to find its way into every nook and cranny of my house!  I think we are growing it sometimes!  But, I am tolerating all the muddiness, with hope in my heart that one of these days, the sun is going to come out, dry up all the mud, and my tulips will start blooming, and the grass will begin to turn green, and maybe I'll even get to plant my garden!  One must always hope! 

Just wanted to share a few pictures with you that I took recently on another hike I've been on .... Most of the snow has melted, so no more stepping into knee deep snow every step you make! Instead we were able to easily hike up and down these mountains without any problems at all!

Even though the incline was almost vertical, it was just a breeze for us, because we'd been doing it in deep snow, and now we didn't have the snow to deal with.  What a difference no snow makes!

Well... when you're going up a steep incline... like this one... snow or no snow... it will still get  your blood pounding and your heart racing!

Some beautiful views once we got to the top...

Moss was growing everywhere... another sign spring can't surely be far off!!

We found a new marker on my friends place that was put in by the US Geological Survey that showed the elevation of this rock.

My friends dog is a real sweetie, and very alert to everything going on in the forest, much more than we were!  We were too busy talking and catching our breath to notice that there were several deer just ahead of us... but Cheetah wasn't distracted.  She watched them very closely and quietly for a minute or so, and then they darted off into the forest before we could catch a clear glimpse of them.  It is comforting to know we have such good eyes and ears with us when we are hiking!

Mequita is a darling border collie and her job is to find all the sticks and twigs and bring them to us, and drop them at our feet.  She stays very busy with this job, and just can't understand why we aren't pleased with her sticks brought to us with great love!

Another hill we climbed down.  I think the going down part was trickier than going up!  The mud made the hillside pretty slick in some places, and I wasn't interested in sliding down this hillside! So we carefully weaved our way down this hill.

I loved the moss covering the ground on the side of this hill top. It has such a happy shade of green... with a beauty all in its own right! 

  

Just as quickly as the sun comes out and shines, it can cloud up and a snow/rain/hail  mixture can suddenly appear. We've been having lots of these little "storms" that last for about 15-20 minutes with snow/rain/hail, and then just as quickly, it will clear off, the sun will come out, and it will be spring out!  

 

So, whether spring will really show up on Wednesday or not, it's pretty debatable, given that the weather forecast is for snow almost every day this week... but... one can always hope!!!