a.k.a. V.J.

In recent years, my family and I have followed a tradition of taking a New Year’s Day nature hike. These organized “First Day” hikes are sponsored by parks throughout New York State, so we had various options to choose from this year. There was an intriguing one at Fort Ontario in nearby Oswego that was sort of a combination hike/walking history tour, but that one started before any of us had dragged ourselves out of bed. So, instead, we headed to Sterling Nature Center, which has become our default venue for close-to-home nature walks.

There was a time, not all that long ago, when I would have used the weather as an excuse to beg off such an excursion. Our region has been getting pummeled all week by lake-effect snowstorms, so the prospect of hiking along the shoreline of Lake Ontario was a bit like visiting the scene of a crime that was still unfolding. Or maybe a better metaphor would be plunging into the belly of the beast. The snow mostly held off, and the roads were drivable, but the temperature was quite frigid — around 15 degrees Fahrenheit before factoring in wind chill, which is always a consideration up on the lake.

But as the old saying goes, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.” So, we bundled up and joined a group of around a dozen other hearty souls and one ebullient Siberian Husky for a trek through Sterling’s snowy wetlands. Here are a few images from our hike:

The hike lasted around 40 minutes. It was restorative and invigorating, the way a walk on New Year’s Day ought to be. The snow crunched beneath our feet the whole way, as snow always does on super-cold days. And there was hot chocolate at the end. Who can argue with that?