Warrior Snow Bunnies

So today I inducted two new recruits into my hiking adventures. Zara and Tina are from Taiwan and work with me at Longmire. Today was their first hiking experience ever. We hiked the Lakes Trail to Reflection Lake around to Faraway Rock, over the river and through the woods, back to Paradise, for a good 5 mile hike. That totals me up to 75 miles of hiking so far this summer. I dubbed the girls the Taiwanese Warrior Snow Bunnies. We did battle with 5 ariel soldier Gray Jays who were dive bombing us to get our pb&j sandwiches. They would slam on the brakes mid flight, wings extended out, about six inches from my face, twisting their feathered bodies back to the pine tree where we were sitting, only to have their wing man perform the same maneuver. I encouraged Tina and Zara to take my hiking poles and swing them wildly at the birds to ward of the attacks. The girls took on this task with vigor. Actually, Tina came within inches of knocking one right out of the sky. We finally had to retreat from the relentless attacks. Our journey continued through what I like to refer to as the Desert of Snow. We marched over a blanket of snow for a good two miles, losing the trail, finding the trail, losing the trail. Tina fell about a dozen times and we had a good laugh each time. I stopped to make a snow angel. Just to remind you it is July 31.