Overcast, calm and chilly.
For the second day in a row, the mostly sunny skies in the forecast ended up being mostly cloudy. Official temperatures overnight around freezing or a little below. It was in the 20s at my house.
I wondered if there might be nice sunrises the past couple of days, but I wasn’t awake (or didn’t notice if I was). I did see a couple pictures show up on social media with lots of nice color. It wasn’t entirely clear, but I think they were from this morning.
I didn’t make it out until this afternoon.

My parents were driving to the farm, and last fall in an effort to talk to them more regularly and get uphill more often, I made a commitment to myself to go up Verstovia while talking to them on their weekly drive to the farm (as long as the timing worked out, which depends on when they actually go).
I almost certainly wouldn’t have gone up a hill today otherwise, but that’s the value of making those sorts of decisions.
It took me 37 minutes to get to the first viewpoint. I was able to talk while walking, although it was through some heavy breathing at times. It was a slow pace, but considering the lack of uphill activity, it feels like a reasonable start.
There was some sunlight on Mt. Edgecumbe when I arrived.
Also a small flock of Red Crossbills were finding something on the ground. They were quite close to me, so it was fun to see them, though Unfortunately the angle of light wasn’t the best for photos.
I poked around looking at mosses and lichens on the bank adjacent to the trail, and on an exposed rock face. Several caught my eye enough to photograph and collect.
None of the ones I collected are ones I recognized. One lichen in particular is a bit of a mystery, as it looks kind of like a couple of other things, but habitat and some other things are not a good fit. It’s got a distinctive looking coralloid form, though.
I didn’t time myself on the way down, but probably took 30 minutes or a little less. My legs felt pretty good, though I could feel things a little bit in my hips.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today