I was hoping for a better day for hiking on one of my days off, but warm weather and sunshine just wasn't happening. So we set off for a hike up Mill Creek anyway.

We hit snow from almost the beginning, and it got deeper as we continued to hike farther in. The clouds were setting in pretty thick and big snowflakes were falling by the time we got to the falls, making it feel very wintry. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable 6-mile day hike in the mountains, and the views are always beautiful. :)

What are you dreaming of? Are you taking action towards it? If not, you should be.

Reaching our dreams and goals in life is kind of like hiking to a sought after mountain peak or lake or some other beautiful destination. To get there, it helps to be on the right path. When we find we have somehow gotten on the wrong path, we need to find our way back to the right one. When we are on the right path, no matter how hard things might be at times, we need to press on and not give up. The right path is not always easy, but it will lead us to where we want to be.

Everyone did great, and we had a lot of fun!
I'm looking forward to our next rock climbing adventure! :)

Is your to-do list helping you or hurting you? If your to-do list is helping you, that's great. But if you are like a lot of people in this day and age, and your to-do list is weighing you down and making you feel like a failure, I've got some ideas for you to try.

1. Keep your list short and to the point. I have a longer to-do list so I don't forget things. But when I am feeling overwhelmed with it all, I make a separate to-do list of my 3 priorities for the day. It looks much more doable, and I get the important things done. If I accomplish those, then I can see what else I want to get done on my bigger list.

2. Create a have-to list and a want-to list. Make an agreement with yourself, that after you do something on your have-to list, you can then pick something to do on your want-to list. This also ensures that your want-to things don't get left out of your life while waiting for your to-do list to get finished first. We all know that won't happen.

3. Aside from critical things, stop focusing on an overbearing to-do list and make a daily or weekly "done" list instead. When I'm not getting much done on my to-do list, I can start to feel like a failure. I ask myself, "What did I do today?" Then I start to review my day and discover I actually did quite a bit overall, just not things on my list. That's when it's time for a done list. Keep track of what you do. It will make you feel better at the end of the day, and you will likely become more motivated to get more things done to grow that list. And you will effectually start getting things done off of your to-do list.

4. Sometimes no matter how well we plan and how motivated we might be to accomplish things, life happens and gets in the way. Some days you just have to throw the list out the window and ride through the roller coaster, doing what you can and not worrying about what you can't for the time being. We simply can't do everything.

5. Finally, recognize that a to-do list is ongoing. It is never finished, because as we cross things off, we keep adding more. It's not about finishing the list. It's about taking care of the things that need to get done, and making progress on other things that are important to us.

I hope that you will find a way to be master of your lists, and not let your lists be master of you. I have found it's a continuing work in progress, so I use different strategies as needed. When something is working, stick with it. When it's not, try something else. :)

The "I have to" things have a way of filling our time if we let them. We need to take time for our "I want to" things, too. :)

The views on the drive to Sweathouse Trailhead are gorgeous any time of year, but they are especially beautiful when the mountains have snow on them.

When we hiked up Sweathouse in the latter part of April this year, it was nice to finally be hiking on some bare ground again, as the trail was mostly clear of snow until shortly below the lower falls. We eventually ran into about 2-1/2 feet of snow hiding the trail above the upper falls on our way to our favorite rock area away from the trail.

We enjoyed a campfire lunch as planned, but we did shorten our stay a bit as we discovered too many ticks in that area. After all was said and done, we had encountered 17 ticks on that hike. We definitely had a good time, but 17 ticks is a few too many for my liking! We'll be back again after tick season is over for this year. :)

Middle of March and the weather forecast was predicting a sunny day on one of my days off from work. Getting out in the mountains to enjoy it was on the top of my list of things to do. But this time of year still means snow on most of our trails, and from early spring hikes in years past, I have discovered that some trails remain quite shadier and colder than others. We know that Ward Mountain gets sunshine, so that's where we decided to go. Since we were likely to need snowshoes at some point along the way, we strapped them to our packs and headed out for some afternoon fun on the mountain.

We checked the snow level at our break spot and found it to be about 3 feet deep at that point. It's funny how it doesn't seem like it when you are staying on top of it with skis or snowshoes. After a short break, we enjoyed zig-zagging our way back down the mountain on fresh snow without any tracks but the ones we were leaving behind us. The wind was a little chilly, but the sun balanced it out, and the views were beautiful. Oh, how I love being on the mountain! :)

I hope you enjoyed coming along on my mountain adventure. I'd love it if you would leave me a comment and hit the "like" button. See you in the next post. :)

Changes to my blog are in the works. I'm currently in a transition and am moving my fitness related posts to a whole new website dedicated to my fitness coaching. This blog will become focused on my mountain adventures and photography. The complete transition won't happen overnight, but will be a work in progress for a bit. I've got a lot more to come for both, so be sure to follow along. I'll post a link to my new fitness website soon. :)