Thawing out

I went into winter mode for a while.  That's not to say I wasn't getting out there at all, but it was mostly 2-3 mile dog walks with the occasional 1-2 hour hike, but nothing that really motivated me to post until this weekend.  After snow on Monday and Wednesday, the front range trails were still a mess, so I decided to venture the 120 miles south to Salida in search of some dry trails.  I started up Frontside with temperatures in the low 50s, some light wind, and a beautiful sunny day.  From Frontside I hooked into Lil Rattler, Backbone, and then went up Sand Dunes to CR173.  I dropped down the 4x4 road to Backbone and headed west this time until my phone advised me I'd hit 7 miles before turning around.  In the end, it was a 12.2 mile hike in 3:20 or an average pace of 16:18.