For real, the dog wouldn't even get up with me this morning. It could be because we had a late night celebrating my mom and dad's birthday the night before, or maybe it was because, once again, it was under 20 degrees outdoors! But regardless, I had a team that was waiting for me at the Cooper Mill in Chester, NJ this morning!
Carra and I met up at the Starbucks in Chester prior to our 8:45 arrival at the Mill. There, we sipped on our Skinny Vanilla Lattes, laced up our boots, and waved as the remaining "5" arrived for our hike (Linda, Liz, Danielle2, Alan and Roger).
As we began our hike, I kept glancing across the street at the Old Mill Tavern, where we would finish off our day's trot with "lunch" in hand! We hit various trails today, but primarily focused on the blue and red trails. As you can see in the picture, the trails are labeled with paint blocks which tell you what direction to head. For example, this picture shows that we are following the blue trail, and the top blue box tells us to carry on towards the left.
We saw an icy river where a meeting was being held among the geese.
We shared some ideas of what they could be saying to one another, where they could be finding their next meal, and of course, why they remained in New Jersey instead of heading south for the season. We trailed on, enduring many snow covered, rocky paths. We had 3 falls among our members on this trip...mostly due to the uncertainty of what lies beneath the snow. You really can't look around while you are walking. You have to save your sight seeing for times when you stop for granola or a sip of water. If you try to sight see or take photos while you are hiking, there's a good chance you may end up face to face in a blanket of snow. We were lucky to "bounce" back from the falls, and continue to enjoy the trails.. We saw signs of wildlife, although other than the geese, we were pretty much the only visible living creatures among the trees on this cold Sunday morning. (Text to Real-Life Connection: Footprints in the Snow, The Mitten, Hansel and Gretel) In some instances, the only marks in the snow were footprints such as these. I felt like "Hansel and Gretel"...only we weren't laying bread crumbs to find our way home, we were following what appeared to be coyote tracks. Based on the size of the print, and the fact that there wasn't any "tail brushings" we eliminated the possibility of a fox. We also saw true deer prints. 
Do you think these are coyote prints, or something else? At one point, we really needed to pull together as a team. Thank goodness for Linda, who had brought poles- we needed to use a pole, and the help of (our guide) Alan's hand and wisdom, to help us each across an icy creek. The rocks were icy, the water was semi-frozen, and today - we were crossing the creek (I just had to say that again, in case you didn't hear me the first time). I was second to go, and my ears couldn't have been working better. I was tuned in to Alan's directions, and my eyes were piercing into the icy rocks that I was depending upon to get me from one side of the creek, to the other. I stepped carefully, then sunk my pole into the mirky bottom of the running creek- establishing a point of stability. Before reaching my right foot to the large rock in the middle of the creek, I took a deep breath, grabbed Alan's hand with my left hand, and took off. The next part was a blur. Somehow, I took some swift steps across the remaining rocks and jumped onto the safety of solid ground. Luckily, we all made it across without any falls.
Considering the length of this hike and the increase in elevation, the hydration and snack breaks were very much needed. We noticed that there was more than icicles on the rocks, there was also icicles filling our water bottles today as well.
By mile 6, my mind was set on a juicy burger for lunch. I'm pretty sure that is what got me through the additional uphill climbs, snowy slippery rock trails, and snow-drifted paths.
Well, and of course the support of our newly found friends!
After 8 miles and 3 1/2 hours of hiking, I was so happy to see this sign.
It meant that we were back at the parking lot, and it would be a matter of minutes before I would have a burger in hand, and iced-tea in the other! Cheers to another successful hike! 
P.S. We selected Veggie Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries for lunch. There'd be enough fun foods later on in the evening! My husband Loren was home making home-made boneless hot wings to enjoy during the Super Bowl!
