New Year's Day Hike

“Hope

Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,

Whispering 'it will be happier'...”

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Our Pine Ridge Hiking Club's president likes to spring "unofficial" hiking opportunities on the club. Somewhere around 15 hikers marked the first day of the year with a hike around Port Hope this afternoon. The weather is a far cry from last weekend's epic storm, but there were reminders of the storm all along the trails.

Ice pancakes have been forming along the shore and they are not as pretty as in previous years. It looks like a lot of sand was churned up in the storm and settled in the ice.

We followed the Waterfront Trail as far as we could go.

Someone has been making things pretty along the way.

Nothing like a creek to cause a change in direction. Before we headed north from the lake, we took some time to renew old acquaintances. And, what would this picture be without that beautiful yellow coat in the centre?

You never know what will happen during our hikes. Today it was a sampling of Bailey's Irish Cream. Perfect!

I think it hit the spot.

Looking back towards the town, you can see the volumes of sand on the ice.

After the last drop, the very last drop....

... we headed northward.

We made our way up Dorset Street as we headed back into town. If you aren't paying attention, you might not see the tall spruce that tipped over and is leaning on The BlueStone. Many trees were blown over in last week's storm.

Some of us crossed the river and back to our cars, while others found an open pub to further celebrate the New Year.

Our official schedule starts next Saturday. Happy New Year!

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes,

then you are making new things,

trying new things,

learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world.

You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly,

you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you,

and all of us,

and my wish for myself.

Make New Mistakes.

Make glorious, amazing mistakes.

Make mistakes nobody's ever made before.

Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough,

or it isn't perfect,

whatever it is:

art,

or love,

or work

or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing,

Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”

Neil Gaiman