I am very thankful for the wonderful year we have been allowed to have in the great outdoors. 2013 Brought us many new experiences some that were fun and some that were painful lessons. We have crossed creeks and walked through mud and trudge through snow with dry feet. Thanks to good hiking shoes, we have learned the painful lesson between good hiking boots and bad hiking boots the hard way. We have climbed hills, scrambled up mountains and crossed valleys and still stood in amazement at the beautiful views around us. We have saw animals great and small and still managed to be intrigued by them all. We have laid in our tent and wondered if the horse would still be there in the morning and if the wind was ever going to stop. We have found that you can never have too many Cheetos or jolly ranchers in your backpack on a long hike. We ventured out in the rain just to say we did it. We drove dirt, gravel, busy and scary roads and lived to talk about it. We have got up close and personal with the forest floor whether by accident or just exploring. We learned how a government shut down effected us and it gave us new meaning to using the bushes. We have returned again, and maybe again to the same trail and always found something different each visit. We have arose early to get to a trailhead even knowing that we would have to hike without any coffee running through our veins. We have had the privilege to say hi to many hikers along the trail in passing through out the year, and felt privileged to be out there. We waited for spring to arrive with all it's flowers bursting with color, then we watched it fade into summer and moved to higher ground, fall came early in the mountains and with it a great disappointment that we might miss all the color. We embraced the thought of starting winter early and trekked out into the snow for spots of color, and now we just can't wait for winter to really begin down on our valley floor. I want to thank Brooks Shoes for the wonderful trail running shoes that made my hiking life a enjoyable trek this summer and on into fall. I would also like to thank Nikon for the beautiful lenses that they allow us to put ourselves into debt for so that we can document those beautiful memories for raining days. I would also like to thank my fellow hikers, family members and especially my nephew who has hiked most of these trails with his Aunt, even when she has said she is not in the mood for jokes this early, he has still gave it his best shot and hiked many miles with me. I would also like to thank Washington Trails, and all the folks that work hard to maintain the trails and submit trail reports. And lastly all the hiking blogs that I stalk, thank you for all the wonderful inspiration, information and beautiful photos that continue to help feed my crazy addiction for hiking and photography. Happy Trails 2013.
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