Speaking of ice...
My family took advantage of the pleasant weather yesterday and went for a hike on a nearby
mountain hill. Little did we know what would be waiting for us when we arrived. Despite the fair overnight weather at our house, there must have been quite an ice storm just 15 minutes away from our house, because the entire forest was coated with a glistening layer of ice. Even though the sky was mostly clear, it was raining in the forest due to melting ice.
About midway through the hike, the sun really came out and accelerated the that. In addition to water droplets, pieces of ice started falling. Thankfully they were no bigger than coin size pieces and didn't hurt that much when they hit a body part.
Here I am enjoying the surrealness with Gracie on my back. (You can only see her cool pink boots.) I'm sporting trekking poles, since the ground was a bit slippery and I didn't want to fall and smoosh my passenger.
Here's Steven pointing out an ice-encased young tree.
Here's another small tree not far from the bush.
And here's Steven holding up a piece of ice shaped like the leaf it was just clinging to.
The only one who didn't have a good time was our dog. She's under the impression that trees shouldn't drop things on her.
