First Hike of the Year

Yesterday the weather managed to not be frigid, there was some sun, and we hadn't had a really heavy rain all week.   Since the likelihood of getting mired knee-deep in mud was slim, I decided to take my 16 year old son, who is on the autistic spectrum, for our first hike of the new year.

We happen to be fortunate to live literally around the corner from a 1,700 acre nature preserve called Devil's Den.  Devil's Den spans several towns here in Connecticut and there are hiking trails throughout the preserve.    I've been taking advantage of a fortunate proximity to hike with both my family and friends ever since I've lived in Weston.

With all the snow this Winter, I did manage to get into the Den a few times to snow shoe.   But with all the snow and rain, and the tendency of Devil's Den to get really muddy, I've been avoiding going in for the last 6 weeks.  

But yesterday seemed to be a good day to finally head back in, so I got my hiking boots on and told my son he was coming with me for a short hike (you have to delineate these things for him, we have some set hikes he knows by heart which takes the anxiety out of the equation for him). 

I wasn't the only person who thought that way.   When I got to the Den entrance, the parking lot was completely filled and cars were parked all the way down the road leading to the entrance.   But that's a good thing--more hiking.

My son and I climbed out of the car, covered ourselves in repellent in case the Lyme ticks were out (it was probably too cold, but after having Lyme 3 times I don't take risks), and off we headed into the woods.

I was chilly when we first started, but after 15 minutes of hiking up hill, I warmed up, and by the time we ended our hike 45 minutes later, I had a good sweat worked up.

And, according to my calorie estimator, I burned 263 calories.

Now that the weather is finally warming up (we hope but its been a wild and crazy year), I'll be doing a lot more hiking again.