17 degrees.

17 Degrees is what the temperature was this morning for our first hike of the year. Brrrrrrrr... Boo and I woke up at 6:45 am, packed up our day packs, put on our long johns, found our scarves and gloves, and headed out to Crowders Mountain State Park. Where we were meeting a group of hard core hikers. Let's face it, if your hiking in 20 below weather, you ARE hard core. hahaha! At least I think so :) As soon as we pulled into the park (8:10am) we caught a glimpse of the group, just starting the first loop. We were late b/c we had to stop for breakfast. Oops :) The reason we were all meeting, was to do a series of several loops, as much as you wanted or could handle. 5, 10, 15, or 20 miles. Since Boo and the dogs were with me, I decided that just one 5 mile loop was enough for us today.

We unloaded, got the dogs all leashed up, tightened our scarves around our face, and hit the trail! MAN, that first 1/2 mile was one of the coldest I had ever hiked. My hair hurt it was that cold! Thank goodness we started our climb after that 1/2 mile. It really began to warm us up. I think Boo even broke a sweat! We stopped a couple of times to drink some water, but other than that, it was a tough beginning. It was a beautiful day and as we got to the top, we were rewarded with the most crystal clear view we had ever seen. We stayed up on that mountain top for a while, long enough to meet some characters. We met an older gentleman with his dog "Freddie the Freeloader", who just barked and barked, and barked. I think the guy was deaf, cause he didn't hear his dog barking at anyone. Then we met another guy who had lugged up a thermos full of coffee, just to enjoy on top of the mountain. (So remembering to do that next time. Maybe I'll fill my thermos up with hot chocolate) Boo, coffee guy, and Freddie the freeloaders dad had a nice discussion about the days football schedule. After a bit, I was getting cold and the dogs were getting antsy, so we decided to climb down. I always forget how much the stairs on the other side make my knees all jello-y. At the bottom of that 1/2 mile descent, I hyper flexed my right knee and had to take a quick break. I definitely need to strengthen up my quads, so my knees don't give out on me. We finished up the 2 mile rolling section with Boo and Thing 1 cutting through the woods and road walking the last .20 miles. His heel was hurting him. Thing 2 and I finished up and met them at the last 1/2 mile section. As soon as we finished, we saw the rest of the group, checked in with them and got invited to do another loop. We declined and wished them a good rest of the day. By then the temperatures had climbed up to a frigid 22 degrees. As soon as we loaded up the car, we blasted the heat and headed home with a quick stop for a $5 foot long. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!