So the boy and I and the dog decided to go for a walk up the North Fork instead of the usual walk in the woods we take closer to home.

The walk closer to home is throughly enjoyable, at least for me. It has zero views and is just a walk in the woods, but almost no one ever walks there and I’ve spent all winter and spring keeping the trails open. It has a lot of birds, but unfortunately most of them are 50 to 100 feet in the canopy, which makes getting a decent photo a challenge.

So up the North Fork we went, with snowflakes in the air we started the slog up a well-known ridge.

The hike this time of year is usually rife with ticks, but I sprayed down the boy and I with tick repellent and the dog took one of those pills that’s supposed to kill ticks and fleas that chew on her for three months. I wish I could take one of those pills.

The snow most certainly helped with the bugs. It was spotty when we started but the higher we got the deeper it became. Ticks aren’t too active in the snow, but a bumblebee was still buzzing around pollinating huckleberry flowers.

It had been a while since I’d done this ridge all the way to the top and it took longer than I expected. The dog chased ground squirrels all the way up, with zero chance of catching one.

The flowers bent in the snow, but by the time we started down they were perking back up as the snows receded in the warming sun, which was busting through the threatening clouds.

I had plenty to do back at home and got none of it done.

In other words, it was a perfect Sunday hike.