This is about as close as I got to the water on Saturday. I worked hard all week painting the last of the big walls with the 14 foot ceilings so I could join the group going out Saturday to paddle around Chester River and Eastern Neck Island. I was successful in getting the walls painted but in the process injured my shoulder. No kayaking for me until it heals. So I joined a Sierra Club hike around LIberty Reservoir ... which looked like a great place to paddle some day although I couldn't tell if it was open to kayakers.



Most of the trail was covered with snow and ice. Those who came prepared with walking sticks were much more stable, but I had several almost falls on the ice. Several people weren't so lucky and there was probably more than one bruised tailbone by the end of the hike. The trail meandered around the reservoir, in and out of the forest. Several small streams feed into the reservoir which pass through the trail and the hike was advertised on the Sierra club list as having several stream crossing. Not sure what kind of streams we would be crossing I emailed James, the trip leader, before the trip for clarification. All he said was ... your feet could get wet and you may want to remove your shoes.



Given the snow and ice I estimated the stream water to be maybe 45 degrees. So I opted to do the stream crossing with my boots on. This worked out well until we got to the last stream. There was a large log across the stream but one of the other hikers volunteered that it could be decaying. The stream was running high, over a foot deep. So the choices narrowed down to slithering across the log and perhaps falling in the stream if the log broke or running across the water ... I opted to run as did most people. And got soaked in the process. It was a squishy walk back. Fortunately I'm used to being wet so it didn't bother me. But I made a mental note to pack water shoes next time and keep the boots dry. To see the complete photo album, click here.

-Susanita