Blue Mountain Road All Dressed In White - Part 1

Monday morning dawned at the farm and I had my 7:00 appointment with the contractor who had given me a bid to repair and re-side the barn. I signed the contract and he promised to begin work on the next Monday. That left me an entire free day to do as I pleased - and what I pleased was to make an attempt to once again hike along Quebec Brook in the Santa Clara tract. I drove to Blue Mountain Road and began driving:

The snow had been plowed, but it didn't look to me like hiking conditions. I kept driving anyway since I was already there. Besides, the scenery was breathtaking:

Despite the decidedly non-hiking conditions I was seeing, I held on to some vague hope that the Quebec Brook trail might have been packed down by snowmobiles. Besides, I'd come this far already:

And I was driving on a more or less plowed road through virtual wilderness and the views were wonderful:

Spruces reached upwards along the road with smaller bushes, perhaps Winterberry Holly, bordering the road edges:

Snowy mountains passed by our field of view and it was mild enough for me to keep the windows down. Daphne and Clover wanted to see everything:

After a while, Clover grew tired of the moving scenery and made herself comfy once again on the car seat. Daphne felt it was her duty to watch for threats and whatever else it is dogs watch for:

With the leaves off the trees I could see Azure Mountain close at hand. I knew it was Azure Mountain because I could clearly see the fire tower. You probably can't see it in this picture:

Here's a closer shot. Can you see the fire tower now?:

And closer still. See it now?:

After about 10 miles, Blue Mountain Road hadn't even been plowed and I sure didn't want to get stuck. So I gave up my hope of hiking and turned around, snapping pictures as I drove:

I decided to take pictures of some of the cute little camps along the way. But I'll post more tomorrow: