December has been unseasonably warm (and just a bit wonderful). When I woke up this morning, I had 76 miles (122km) of hiking for the month of December. I decided it might be nice to try to break the 80 mile mark.
As a point of refence, I was able to get 157 miles (252km) of hiking completedin May- when the days are warm and luxuriously long. So, to get more than half that mileage in December seemed like a worthy goal.
We set out by going up the Show Me The Horse trail to the Helena Ridge Trail. Our plan was to come down South Dump Gulch.
All of that worked very nicely. We met two older gentlemen on the trail at about 11:00am who claimed they were hoping to complete the Ridge to Mini-ridge to Wakina Sky loop before darkness fell. We wished them well, felt a bit ‘bested’ by their commitment top seizing the day, and went on our way.
There is a spot that I can see from the valley taht I enjoy hiking to every year or so. Two Poderosa trunks grow closely together and it makes the tree appear to be a giant compared to it’s closeby neighbors.
We made it to that landmark and while we wandered around the base of the tree, my hiking partner – who’s ability to spot wildflowers is almost superhuman – said he had found a dandelion in bloom.
December 31, 2024 at 11:13am, there was a flower blooming over 1,000 feet (305m) above the Helena Valley.
Amazed, we took pictures and laughed about being confused as to whether it was a late season, or early season specimen. In the end, we decided it was a late season entry.
By the end of the walk, I had 80.1 miles (129km) of hiking for the month of December.
The end of the year hiking total was 844 miles (1358km). 2023 was a good year.
Nature, every day. 
Leave a Reply