The dog didn't need too much convincing.
We parked at the back entrance way, on North Westfield Street.
It was really just an easy stroll down a wide fire-road type trail.
The trail slowly descended down to the Westfield river, then ran along side it.
We weren't looking for anything too challenging today, just some fresh air. Until we saw this hill.
We had been descending for pretty much the whole walk. So we thought it'd be a good idea and save time, if we just made up for all that lost elevation in one fell swoop by scrambling up the hill, and catching the trail back from there. Chris assured us it would be a snap, and charged ahead. The hill looked somehow bigger and steeper as we got closer. And none of us took into account that it was covered with a hard packed shell of ice.
It turned out to be a bit of a challenge. To get a foothold, we needed to smash through the icy cover with each step. If you lost traction, you were going back to start.
Some members of the team had a rougher time of it, (particularly the ones that insisted on hiking in sneakers), and collapsed at the top, but in the end no one had to be left behind.
We soon linked up with the main trail again, and made our way back, through a peaceful forest.
1 comment:
How fun to share in your dog's excitement about going outside! Brian was just commenting about the crusty snow that it's the kind of conditions you only see about once every 10 years. Yesterday the little kids in our neighborhood were running on the crust then flopping on their bellies and sliding -- all without breaking through.
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