What holiday?

Do you like my rock? I found it in Maine on the shore of a pond that the Appalachian trail meandered past. I squirreled it away in my pack thinking maybe some day I'd find the other half. And no, that isn't a metaphor for a secret yearning for a love life. I just think it'd be pretty neat to have two halves of a rock that form a heart.

I don't have too much to say about Valentine's day. I could rant about commercialized consumerism, but that's not very fun. My plan for Valentine's day is to do a solo winter hike somewhere... however, if I show up at a site and there's an intrepid couple with the same plan as me that will just be terrible for both of us. I mean really... just flat-out TERRIBLE.

As much as I enjoy solo hiking I have done an awful lot of it... enough to be appreciative of company when I have it. However, while other people are watching movies together or enjoying a nice dinner or doing whatever the heck it is that couples do I will be spooning in my zero degree sleeping bag with my cuddly, loving ice axe. It should be pretty darn romantic... the forecast isn't exactly balmy, as you can see.

ps: update - after spending the night in my car at the trailhead (it was cold enough to need both my zero degree bag and another as a supplement even at that elevation) and waking up to predictions of 70-80 mph wind and windchill of minus fifty below I've decided to downgrade my plans a bit!