Icy Wonderland on the Mountain.

Well, it seems while we were enjoying a couple inches of rain Thursday night, the top of Mt. Tom was getting shellac'ed with ice. A couple of friends hiked up to Goat Peak last night to watch the simultaneous sunset, full moon rise from atop the Goat Peak fire tower. Even though it's become a monthly event, it seemed silly to attempt yesterday with the clouds and freezing cold wind whipping up a storm. Not to mention the fact that sunset is now around 4pm, and most of us had other plans. In any event, the few that made the trek were rewarded with an amazing and breathtaking icy wonderland. After seeing their photos, the rest of us were crazy jealous.

Especially me, photo-taking freak that I am.

So what do I do this morning? Of course I grab my cameras and hiking boots and make for Chapin Street and the trailhead to Goat Peak. With just an hour and a half to make the ascent, catch some shots, and safely return to open up shop by noon, I think I actually jogged a few of the flat spots. All I can say is, wow. The effort was more than worth the workout to get there.

Although the photos don't exactly do it justice, I still think they're pretty cool. I put them up on Flickr so you can get the full effect. Just click on the arrow to start the slideshow...

I even captured a little video. I shot another one from atop the fire tower, but wouldn't you know, my fingers were so frozen, it seems I didn't hold the button down long enough to make it work. Big darn on that one. Oh well, here's the next best (I like the sound of the wind blowing through the frozen branches)...