PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

Exploring, Walking, Hiking, and Snow!

January 29-February 4, 2024

I forgot to take a picture on Monday, so I used one from Wednesday’s hike with a friend for the lead image. We were hiking in the forest, in a local county park. The trail had awesome views of the lake, but we also took a side trip and did some exploring on our own.

There was a sort of hut, made from dead branches. It looked like kids had built it because of the bridge over the creek and chalk drawings on the inside. It reminded me of my childhood, when I got to play in the open fields behind our house.

My friend and I both agreed that it’s better to “leave no trace,” but we also agreed that this spot was pretty cool.

Over the weekend, a park visitor called to complain about a bag of aluminum cans and other “trash” left on an equestrian trail. She said things were starting to spread out, so we should pick it up before it got worse.

I told her I’d clean it up. Tuesday was the perfect day. It was warm and felt like spring. Before I headed out on the trail, I changed clothes, taking off my layer of thermals.

When I found the pile of trash, I cleaned it up, then carried everything back to the office with me. I was fine until the last half mile or so, and then that bag started getting heavy. I took breaks, switching hands off and on until I got back. The total walk was only around two miles but it was a good workout!

The photo above is from the hike with my friend on Wednesday. That hike was a 2.5 mile loop. We looked at cedar saplings, explored the hut (lead photo), and took a lot of pictures, admiring the view of the lake and surrounding mountains.

The only photo I took on Thursday was later in the evening. I’ve been using up leftover balls of yarn to make kid-sized hats to donate to a shelter or a non-profit. So far I have six hats the same size, with another one in progress.

The yarn was used for hats, fingerless gloves, or socks that were Christmas presents last year. Most of the leftovers were the perfect size for kids’ hats, so that’s what I’ve been working on for the last couple weeks after work. I keep buying more yarn, but I tell myself I can’t use it until I’ve used up all the leftovers from Christmas!

I hiked with Ann again on Friday. I’m sure she’s going to have her write-up of our hikes finished before I do. It’s been fun hiking and visiting with another Medium writer.

That day we hiked the V&T Trail which has nice views of Carson City. The north end of the trail goes above the freeway. The vehicle noise made it hard to hear, so we hiked without talking for a while, until we got away from it again.

Saturday was the “calm before the storm.” My evening walk showed the first of the clouds moving over the mountains. By Sunday morning, we’d have at least a few inches of snow on the ground.

By Sunday evening, we had around a foot of snow on my side of town. I couldn’t resist adding this Live photo of Washoe Lake and Slide Mountain. I’d been wondering how to add these moving photos, when I came across an article by Jillian with instructions on how to do it!

Sunday brought us snow. A lot of snow! The park got over a foot. We plowed and shoveled snow in the morning. I shoveled the sidewalks at the office two more times before I went home for the day.

We don’t have snow like we did last year, but that was a big storm. The next week is supposed to be “unstable,” with possible snow showers. I didn’t see anything like this week’s storm, though.

I have a high school student career-shadowing me ten hours a month until May. When she worked with me in January, the weather was great. She got a tour of the whole park, did visitor surveys while I cleaned, and learned about all of our jobs.

The Sunday that it snowed, I decided it would be better if we found something to work on inside the office. She helped me clean out and organize my interpretive supplies. I also thought it would be fun to make and paint plaster casts of animal and bird footprints to use for programs during the summer.

This was my week in photographs! Dennett started this Photo-a-Day Challenge during the summer of 2020. Since then, many others have joined, including Anne Bonfert, Erika Burkhalter, Susan Alison, Barbara Radisavljevic, Barb Dalton, Ellie Jacobson, Mia Verita, Penny Grubb, Jane Frost (Jane Grows Garden Rooms), K. Barrett, Sandra B, and more.