Short Hike

The hill behind us has a trail that goes to the top - called Josie's Ridge - and several trails that branch off the main one that are lower and provide options for less strenuous and faster hiking. We chose to take one of these lower trails yesterday following a trip to the post office to mail a package to Kristine for Harmony's birthday that is coming up early this month.

There was a huge, dark cloud that was moving in and we felt like we would be racing an incoming storm the entire morning. Here are some shots of our morning hike, starting with a shot of the dark cloud as we approached the post office (Josie standing in front):

The trailhead is just off the bike trail that we have taken on a few occasions. This shot is of the bike trail and the hill that we will climb - eventually to the top:

The trail starts out with a little climb and gradually gets higher and higher as you walk along the lower portion of the hill. These photos are of some of the views we had while walking the trail. The first is early in the hike as we start to climb:

and higher as we begin to see the Flat Creek that follows the bike trail:

and the south side of Jackson:

This one shows the trail behind us:

and finally, our campground and the lodge as seen from this part of the trail as we begin to descend:

We will tackle the next toughest portion of this trail today. The hike yesterday was in threatening weather and it eventually did rain later in the day, but it should be over for awhile. The forecast is for clearing and warming weather, so it should be much better for hiking.

We have reservations at the Gun Barrel restaurant for dinner tonight at 6 PM. That will be the celebration for Josie's birthday and is one of the best restaurants in town. We are looking forward to a fun day...