hiking the hunting property

Yesterday was the first semi-warm and semi-dry day in months, and we took advantage of it.  Myself, Brooke, our dog Fletch, and Patrick went up to the hunting property and hiked around for a few hours.  It was impressive how much snow was still on the ground despite the warmer temps here recently; over 1' in some areas, whereas our entire yard is (dead) grass.  We hiked around for about an hour, stopped and made some Mountain House dehydrated lunches, and hiked on before one more stop for a cup of instant coffee.  Starbucks Via > NesCafe Instant, and in the words of one local sports radio personality, that is "fact, not opinion."  Fletch's paws were getting a tad irritated from the snow so we hiked out a little earlier than anticipated, but it still felt terrific to get out in nature and breathe some fresh air.  This was our first foray into anything more extreme than living room carpet with our new hiking boots, and both pairs fared extremely well.  Not only were we hiking through slushy, mushy snow, but we regularly traipsed through standing water and new rivulets created by run-off from melting snow.  Our feet were warm and dry, and I was so excited about it mainly because it was the same situation I was in last year on the A.T. with Mark when my old boots soaked through within a mile.  My new, bulletproof Bean hiking boots will surely be friends of mine for years to come.  Brooke is excited about her boots, too, because they kept her feet dry and were "very comfy," but also because they "look cute." Amen to that.