Hiking [in the Age of Corona]

A bit of backstory on the title of this post: My brother and his girlfriend have started adding "in the age of corona, which must be said with a lilting English accent, to accompany most of our activities since we began sheltering at home. From fishing in the neighborhood pond to digging ramps, cooking dinner, playing games, running, and hiking. They're both actors and it's been fun to see their little "in the age of corona" skits evolve. Who knows, maybe one day the whole thing will be some sort of Netflix series that follows their love story through the age of corona. Love in the Age of Corona has a nice ring to it? Maybe? Or maybe we're all just slowly losing our minds.

At any rate, the whole purpose of this post is to simply share some pretty photos of our hikes the past two weekends. The first weekend three of my local girlfriends and I got out for a physically distant social hike with the dogs on some local trails. It was SO WEIRD to see them but not get to hug them in greeting. We all awkwardly stood around like teenagers at their first dance or something. Once we got to hiking though, the conversations flowed easily. It was SO NICE and SO NEEDED. I didn't know just how much I needed that interaction. 

A mature maple-beech forest with a growing understory of Canaan fir and red spruce

One of many beaver ponds 

Physically distance conversations

Laughing about a weird targeted ad Kate saw this week for jawzrsize. Look it up. It's insane. 

And nooowwww, they're ready to smile.

<3

Liz and Floyd and the wilds of WV

And then the wilds of WV ate her leg - note Emma's hand in the lower left corner as she darted to rescue

Annnnd in the process of her getting up to help Liz, she pushed on a snag that fell. Kate caught it and prevented it from bashing me in the head while I continued to snap photos of the whole ordeal. LOL. And thank goodness for Emma's gloves. Go figure that the only RN among us totally throws distancing recommendations to the wind when someone is in need of a helping hand haha

The second hike this past weekend went between our property and my one of my girlfriend's properties in the Sinks of Gandy. The area is much more remote than Canaan. Two of my girlfriends were there again, plus my brother and his girlfriend. We were cautious to keep socially distant from those we hadn't quarantined with, though we all felt pretty comfortable walking a bit closer in some situations because each of us had just finished our two weeks of stay-at-home quarantine the day before without showing any symptoms. 

It ended up being a 9-mile hike, but it wasn't too strenuous because we followed waterways most of the time instead of climbing up and over the surrounding knobs. The temperature was a surprising 73°F, too! Our first truly warm, beautiful day of the year. The exercise, company, and remote environment was a really nice reprieve from the microcosms of our homes.

My quarantine lady-franns. Yes, we're closer than 6 feet, but considering I've been living on-and-off with one of them and in constant companionship with the other for the past 3 weeks all without symptoms and all in remote areas, I think we're okay.

Headwater streams

Brother and girlfriend

Yes, it's kinda like Outlander.

Balsam fir and red spruce in and around the Blister Swamp. The ridgeline in the distance is where Emma and I rode the horses in autumn 2018. 

Blister swamp nestled between the knobs

Emma's family's home in the distance. They've held this property since the Civil War. In the little topographical nook to the left of the house is where the Gandy River begins.

Looking out from the front yard of the house toward Blister Swamp

Kenai being utterly spoiled by his Uncle

Isn't he just the cutest old man?!

Taiga fraternizing with the native cow bone spirit

She carried off that large bone earlier in the day lol

More headwater streams

Love in the Age of Corona ;-)

I hope each of your are able to get outside for a bit this weekend! I hope to get lots of seeds started and begin numerous other chores around the yard and farm. But more on those next week...