And on the last day of Winter...

New England had an extremely mellow winter this year, which has its pros and cons. In terms of hiking, it means the trails will be free of snow and ice much earlier this year than most years.

Last weekend, a friend and I drove up to the Waterville Valley area to hike Welch-Dickey, a short loop complete with ledges, rock scrambles and views galore. It's a great early season warm-up hike. We were blessed with blue skies and pleasant temperatures. We took our time and enjoyed the beautiful day. There were a few small patches of ice still lingering in the shade, but the slabs were dry enough to scramble up.

February: Short, but sweet!

The past couple of weekends have been a little busy, so I've been trying to squeeze in a hike when I can. This means that early on Saturday mornings, Em & I have been driving up to New Hampshire and ticking of some smaller mountains from 52 with a View, a list of mountains under 4,000ft with rewarding views.