I was going to take a good nap after work yesterday morning

But then it started snowing, so I said, "let's go, Rocko, we're going up the mountain."

We climbed as close to the peak of "our" mountain as we could. At the summit there is a stone outcropping, maybe 50 feet high, that could be scaled in dry weather, but it was cold and wet yesterday so we had to be satisfied with our progress and turn back.

Here is a section of the topographical map of the area with a rough estimation of our path to the summit indicated in black. Cruso Road (Route 276) runs through the center of the picture; our house is indicated with an ellipse along the road, and the peak of the mountain is indicated with an ellipse in the upper-left corner.

(Map screencaptured from TopoQuest and annotated by me)

It was an easy enough climb, though quite steep (about 1000 feet vertical, less than a quarter mile horizontal), but there is nothing for Rocko to drink. Last year there was one spring about halfway up that was running well, but last year was a wet one. This year was drier and the spring, while running, had no pools that Rocko could drink from. I hadn't brought water, either, but kept my mouth moist with snow. Fortunately we completed the ascent and descent within about two hours so neither of us was terribly dehydrated afterward.

My new hiking boots did their job well. My feet stayed dry despite the snow and my steps were sure. Or, as sure as they could be with the thick layer of leaves on the steep slopes.