Yesterday Bob and I went on a date: hiking to Holden Lake which is five miles and a 2,100-foot elevation gain from the village. The snow was several feet deep in some places, and we could see that a mountain lion had been along the same trail not long before. Our boots sank deep into the snow with each step, and we had to pull up and out step after step; today our muscles can really feel it! What a beautiful sight to see this frozen-over lake while the weather was good and while our legs can still carry us! (We both age a bit this month.) The glacier pictured above and to the left has shrunken considerably even in the last two years, according to a long-time Holden hiker who saw it this summer.

It was a glorious and refreshing hike.