A Sunday Hike in Eagle River

After Christmas shopping on Saturday, Sunday was definitely a day to get outside again.  We've been wanting to go for a long hike again, and between schedules and weather, it had been weeks since we'd been up in the mountains.  Lance & Mary, our former landlords, went with us to the South Fork Trail in Eagle River and up the trail to Hanging Valley.  It's about 2 miles to the bridge along a fairly flat trail with some up and down - then more climbing for the next approximately 2 miles up to the Hanging Valley.

The sun was out, the sky was blue (in some directions anyway!), and it took us about 4 hours to finish. Brian and I had done most of this hike twice, but we never allowed enough time to go all of the way.
We were able to go most of the way without Katoolahs, but once we started climbing more, they made for a much more comfortable hike.   You can see that once we got up higher, there was more snow.

Hard to believe that we'll be in Mexico in 9 days!  Conference time for Judy, and Brian's going too.  And before that, Thanksgiving with Mary and Lance and a special treat -- Van's Caesar Salad class on Saturday at The Marx Brother's Cafe -- with 5 white wines to taste!  Then Mon - Wed and work and late, late Wed night - or early Thursday morning - we fly out, back on the 12th.

Oh, and I forgot!  Brian and I are signed up to do the Turkey Trot, a 5k race on Thanksgiving morning - the first one for me in more than a decade!  Wish us luck!