It’s the middle of March as I write this, and our neighborhood outside of Denver just received about ten inches of snow. Avalanche warnings in the backcountry according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center have been listed as “High” or “Extreme” for weeks now. Especially in many of the areas that I call home when I’m not at work or… home. So I’ve been largely bound to the lowlands during the weekends, and cabin fever is setting in.
There’s only so much mapping, and planning for hikes that I can do. We’re sometimes an overly cautious bunch in our family. I’ve never been much of one for winter sports, so long distance hiking, winter camping, and snowshoeing are all pretty new to me. Add in that none of that stuff is particularly inexpensive while I try to transition my gear to be more backcountry hunting friendly this is shaping up to be a pricey spring and summer.
But there’s relief in sight. We sprang forward recently, and we got an extra hour of daylight thanks to Daylight Saving Time — the snow is beginning to melt, and spring turkey starts in a little under a month. There’s relief on it’s way, and while I write this, there was a realization that there’s a gun show this weekend downtown. At least that should keep me from sitting on my couch and buying stuff. My wife recently entered the third trimester of her pregnancy with our first child, a baby boy. It’s all a bit overwhelming and it’s been effecting everyone in the house. The little dog hasn’t been eating, the big dog has been machining through garbage and illustrating the stinky signs of coprophagia that need to be curbed. The cat, deaf as a stone, meows at the top of her lungs pretty much whenever she’s awake, all five consecutive minutes of a given day. It’s lead to the entire house being on edge.
Just a little relief is in sight though. Weather is improving, we’ll begin to search for our second property in earnest soon. I”ll be doing what I can to make good on my New Years Resolution as the mountains de-ice. I’ve worked through All-Trails and found several nearby Wilderness Area hikes that I want to cross off my list. This will allow me to catch up to where I really should be by the end of March.
Turkey season is mere weeks away here, and I’ve got an OTC tag in my pocket. I’ve got a confession to make, I’ve never once killed a wild turkey. Even back East where it’s extremely popular to hunt them and I have a family friend who’s a big name in turkey hunting. It’s not that I never cared. It’s just that you couldn’t hunt on Sundays in Pennsylvania and our cabin was a weekend getaway when I was growing up, so that left from sunrise until noon one day a week. Almost not worth the effort. Here I have three days a week where I can be in the woods, and it’ll be the last full hunting season before our baby arrives. I’m going to make the most of it while I can.
I’m ready to get out of the house… Maybe next year is the year to take up ice fishing and snowshoeing.
