In Pursuit of a Hike

Finally,  finally,   I can write about hiking again. Which means the cold snap has passed, at least for now. We are creeping out of our state of hibernation. I lie. We are running out of hibernation and heading straight for the woods. Missouri weather has spoiled us the past few years because we have been able to hike straight through the winter. But not this year. When the windchill is below 10, or even 25, we prefer movie watching, game playing, puzzle solving, and staying indoors in general. But watch out when the thermometer peaks above 30, because we are out of here, and on the trail. My New Years Resolution was all about being outdoors more, so I was sad to watch day after day pass by without logging a single mile on the trail. We've hiked at least partial trails at pretty much every trail system in our county. But there are still loops and connectors within those trail systems that we have yet to venture, so last weekend, we headed back to  Gans Creek  (Shooting Star Trailhe