A winter hike, some pictures and some thoughts

Well I finally got around to making vegan doughnuts! These are glazed and the recipe is from the VeganYumYum cookbook. They are delicious. I haven't had doughnuts since going vegan seven months ago. They really hit the spot. I just wish I had some sprinkles to dress them up a little.

We decided to finally try for a winter High Peak on Sunday.


We chose Algonquin Peak, not only because we've heard what a great hike it is in general, but I was told that it was good to start our winter 46 with. We started out at the Loj parking lost at 6am. It was freezing... definitely below zero. I'm just not sure how much. My hair turned to icicles!


Our water froze too, of course, so we put the Camelbak inside Pat's coat to thaw. It was a really great hike. Our trail book said that it gets steep toward the summit and we kept coming to these steep sections and thinking, "That's not so bad..." This is one icy steep section that I actually slipped down on the way up. Oops!

But then we got to the really steep part. I had never hiked anything like it. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures, but it was crazy steep. This made for excellent butt sliding on the way down though!

We didn't make it all the way to the summit, so it doesn't count toward our 46. We could see the top, we were above treeline, we were almost there! The winds were crazy though and we were nervous, so we decided to leave the summit for another day. :)

View of Whiteface.

I love my new goggles. I want to wear them everywhere.

The views were excellent. This is from just below treeline.

Butt sliding!!

I can't wait to get back for more hikes. I need to move north. I always feel so at peace and happy when I'm up there. It's definitely where I'm meant to be.

In other news, I've been seriously considering starting an animal rights/protest group. I know there are like-minded people around here (probably more so toward Albany) but there are only vegetarian meet-up groups around, which I'm not all that interested in. There are demos going on all over the world this week to support Sea Shepherd and protest the the killing of whales and dolphins by the Japanese. I would have loved to take part in one, but of course there are none around here. This is why I need to start a group. We could hold SSCS benefits, protest the circus and rodeo when they are in town, participate in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale and so much more. I'm planning on researching the idea and drumming up some interest soon so let me know if you or anyone you know would be interested.