A chilly day for a long hike hifh up on Mingus Mountain which sits at over 7000 feet in altitude and towers over our winter home here in Cottonwood.
It was a chilly morning walk but Lulu was ready for a quicker trot so we zipped through the 2 miles fairly quickly except for a few bathroom pauses for Lulu and the occasional sniff around the bushes.
There was still a little snow alongside the winding mountain road as we headed up to the top of the mountain. The service road to my originally planned trail was iced over so instead it was up to another forest service day use area to start the hike.
The sun was out but the temperature was still close to freezing so the ground still had some decent snow cover and the exposed areas were frozen and firm for walking
No one else was adventurous and we had the forest to ourselves as we hiked up a long and gradual climb on the forest service road (closed to traffic until April).
The hike wasn't especially strenuous but the high altitude and cold made the 4 miles a bit more challenging than it would otherwise be. A few jays and woodpeckers for company but Lulu was having a blast just trotting through the snow with an occasional good roll around in the stuff.
Of course it's always a little disconcerting we you see a notice about the dangers of the resident wildlife but fortunately no critters were out today.
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