We did the house party scene for New Year's Eve. Each year someone in our small circle of friends hosts a gathering that is kid friendly (hopefully the hosting family has a basement). Dan of course had to work this morning so we actually left the party at about 11pm. The party was pretty subdued yet I did partake in the ceremonial shot out of one guy's glasses that are shaped like a .12 gauge shotgun shell. I was in bed by 11:30 and totally missed the ball dropping. I have to say that I didn't miss having to go around the room kissing everyone at the stroke of midnight. That kinda creeps me out, depending on who the attendees are of course. I don't mind the normal group of friends but depending on who hosts there are straggler invitees that I don't want to have to obviously skip! Anyway, my point is that I was kinda glad to get home and get to sleep in anticipation of the first snowshoe of the new year. I knew my father really wanted to go and without his prompting I would have missed starting the year doing something amazingly awesome; snowshoeing under a bright blue (almost purple, I know crayola has a color that is close) sky, surrounded by fresh powdery snow so glittery in the sun that the the snow sparkles seemed to be jumping and playing beneath our feet. Spruce Mountain is in south Corinth, in the most southern part of the Adirondack Park. It is a couple of turns off of the main road, route 9N going out of Corinth toward Saratoga. At the dead end of Spruce Mountain Road (a right off of Wells Road) there is no parking lot, just parking on the road. You see a gate which is signed for a snowmobile club and beyond the turn around for the snowplow is the foot trail that allows you to climb the mountain far from where the snowmobiles are allowed. We only actually saw two snowmachines and that was because we chose to return via their "road". The foot trail is a gradual climb through nice forest, steeper toward the end. At one point you are cautioned that private property lies between the trailhead DEC sign in and the destination. After crossing the posted property (everyone else appeared to have done so) signs told us we were on
Saratoga Plan Land. Then, back on posted land before making it to the summit. Apparently there is a big issue going on about the ownership of the land and it may be transferring to state land in the near future. At the sign in, DEC has made a special request for people to be sure to sign in to show the powers that be that this little mountain is actually being used and appreciated by hikers. The mountain has a Fire Tower that is in very bad condition. The bottom stairs have been removed to prevent people from climbing the tower. A committee has been formed to try to save it and possibly restore it. Until that occurs, this is a fire tower summit that doesn't offer any sort of real view. We ventured a bit to the north of the tower and found a spot that allowed us to look North and we did see a pretty snow covered mountain view. Beyond the tower is a building owned by National Grid and a communication tower bearing all kinds of satellites. All in all, this was not the BEST mountain for asthetic value- I prefer not to see power lines where I am hiking, my new cell phone didn't even work directly in front of all this communications stuff but the beautiful day and the chance to be out in nature as a kick off to the new year was worth a million. Also noteworthy were the six or so deer we saw as we pulled up to park. The deer are all over this mountain. I thought it was cute that they use the foot path as a means of getting around. I felt like I was helping them out a bit by further crunching down a path for them. I followed deer prints all the way up. There were really matted down runways going between the foot trail and the snowmobile trail. We also saw coyote tracks and a lot of rabbit tracks. Even in the 20 degree air I was warm and toasty thanks to the effort it took to climb. I was feeling a little out of shape as this was a bit more strenuous than Goodnow Mt. We couldn't help but throw ideas around for the upcoming hiking season; figuring on what combination of day hikes and backpacking trips we will shoot for this year. I like that kind of New Year's Resolution. Forget the old boring standby of losing weight. The 17 high peaks we plan to bag by October of 2009 is a challenge I will work faithfully at and enjoy every minute of doing it. Umm..I guess that is not a resolution (which means you will resolve something or change something...most likely a lifestyle change) so I am happy that I am not still at the point where I am making a resolution to hike MORE. This is a continuation of the change I have already made and maintained. A real
resolution would be that I would like to live more "green" (thanks to hiking in nature), I could do more on the preserve and protect idea. While I'm at this contemplative stage of change...I really need to be better at checking the kids homework at night. That's a resolution that brings you back down to earth...Ugh. I'll let you know how that one goes. Happy New Year all....
I was trying out an Artichoke and Chick Pea Stew recipe. She said she liked the taste of the broth but turned her nose up at the finished product. Like most kids she mostly enjoyed using a knife and stirring hot stuff. We used sweet potatos instead of white potatos and added some orzo pasta and a little asparagus that I had leftover. We topped it off with grated fontina cheese. It was great, and luckily for me no one else wanted any and I have a huge portion for my lunch tomorrow. Reagan has a kid's Better Homes and Garden Cookbook that she likes to sift through now and then, so she broke it out and picked another treat for us to make. 
Peanut Butter and Cream Cheese spread for apple wedges (reagan loves the apple corer we have and before I knew it had almost a whole bag of apples wedged). This was a good choice because it called for the use of the honey our own bees made. We used natural peanut butter and extra honey. It was a very tasty dessert. We played RACKO and off to bed she went. We did indeed spend some nice relaxing together time tonight. I guess those tests are good for something.
