The forecast was dire, but the reality has been reasonable: The north winds are steady at 25 MPH and the temperatures have been mid-teens (with corresponding wind chills of 3F to 6F), but if you pull up the hood and keep moving, it's not too bad. Beyond that, the sunsets are beautiful and the trails are quiet.
It hasn't necessarily been warm this winter, but we've generally avoided the bitter cold weather. Until now. The forecast is for single digits overnight and daytime wind chills below zero. When I am working in the woods, I often need bare fingers (to get the core in the straw for one), so I decided to stock up on some field data yesterday—the last warm day. I found this pine in Joes Valley. It is 120 feet tall and 44 inches in diameter. A monster for this part of the world. Unfortunately, it took 10 tries for the cutting screw on the increment borer to catch. I got just one core.
I've walked the Double Dog on a few occasions before when I've had a little extra time. I planned to do it on Thursday, too, but got to the road in the dark and decided not to complete the full north loop. Yesterday, I started a little earlier and finished in about 90 minutes. I thought it was at least five miles, but I tracked it and came back with 4.8. Actually, when you track it, Avenza gives you all the details: 471 feet of elevation gain (and loss); 1:32:28 total moving time; 3.14 MPH average moving speed; 19.16 minute/mile. Slow for a runner, but fast for a walker I guess.
Yesterday we went into Ernie's Canyon for a couple of miles. Nothing too spectacular: VSO found a couple of pictographs and EDO climbed the scree for a closer look at a small arch. We can give it more time later, though: You can get to the mouth of the canyon (from Price) in about 90 minutes.
Normally, I would not set foot on a National Park Service trail, but EDO thought that today would be a good day for Navajo Knobs. VSO and I agreed to go with her. It wasn't awful: We probably encountered four or five parties (which is six too many for me), but after we summited we had the return trip to ourselves.
The Park Service says that the entire trail is 4.7 miles from the parking lot to the Knob, with 1620 feet of elevation gain. VSO eventually dropped out, but we made the 9.4 mile round trip (3,240 vert) in exactly four and a half hours. EDO walks fast! And is good with punctuation.
