Monday Mushroom Hike

This past Monday Andy and I met Gary, Linda and CFM (Cindy from Montana) at Brookside restaurant for breakfast before heading over the mountain to hike the Hazel River trail. Congratulations to C.C. and John (Brookside owners) for being in business for 20 years! Our goal was to hunt for the ever elusive Morel mushroom. We were too late and the conditions were too dry, so not a single one was found. Honestly, we already knew that might be the case before heading into the woods. At the very least, we figured that we would get a good hike in, which we did. The Hazel River was running strong and Gary and I paused several times to scout spots to fish for native Brook Trout. The hike was relatively short (4 miles) and the trail rolls easily along, only requiring us to cross the Hazel once. Athena, Lilly and Martha also made the trip and loved every minute of it, as usual. It's funny to note that while Athena and Lilly love the water and go out of their way to make a splash when and wherever possible, Martha makes every attempt to avoid it, unless she needs a drink. I caught a couple of nice shots of Martha leaping from rock to rock to further illustrate this point. The weather was gorgeous and we all enjoyed a nice walk in the woods. "Thrive Outside"