Blanchard Mountain and a party

What's that yellow stuff in the picture? Sunshine? Well, of course that's why so many Senior Trailblazers are huddled in the rays, trying to catch a bit of sun after we experienced such a dismal December. The last three days have been sunny, and today twelve of us headed up Blanchard Mountain to enjoy the day together before making our way to Mikey Poppins' home for a belated New Years party.

Long rays of sunshine at Lily Lake

We hiked to Lily and Lizard Lakes from the north side of Blanchard Mountain. When we did this same hike back in April, the weather was nowhere near as fine as it was today. That is not to mention that today it was quite cold, with lots of frost from the clear skies at night. We saw several different kinds of hoarfrost, but this specimen of angel hair hoarfrost was especially magical.

Although it looks almost like a fungus, it's nothing but water that has "spun" out of a log and made this amazing cascade of frost. I imagine that this pretty scene no longer exists, since any rays of the sun would melt the delicate hairs. We hiked to both Lily and Lizard Lakes and found that the trail was icy and slippery in spots. Some people had received Christmas presents of strap-on Yaktrax, which are designed to slip onto your boots and make it easier to hike on ice.

It takes a village to get Norm's Yaktrax secured

After getting geared up for the ice, we hiked up to North Butte to catch the view, since we knew that today we should get quite a stunning scene, since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The view was indeed wonderful, but getting there was not so easy. Those things to keep you from slipping were welcome as we labored up to the top.

We cut today's hike short so that Mike could host a party at his nearby home. Mike missed quite a few hikes during the summer, with the excuse that he was working on a home renovation, and he wanted to show his friends (that would be us) what he had accomplished.

We walked into his beautiful renovated home after our hike, to be treated to a wonderful repast of tacos, tomato bisque soup, egg rolls, and a dessert spread that strained our hiking pants to the brim! It was also wonderful to see a slide show of all of our hikes where Mike carried his fancy camera, pictures that most of us had never before seen. We were mesmerized.

Here we are, enjoying an incredible feast, and that's Mikey on the left with Linda. We were all pretty full by this time, but we were also amazed at what he has accomplished. He made one room out of two; you are looking at it, front and right. The dining room has become part of the living room. It seems like it should always have been this way. Now that I am home after today's sunny hike and marvelous feast, I realize how fortunate I have been to have met this great group of like-minded seniors. We sure know how to have fun!
:-)