Since my husband has gone part-time, on his way to full retirement in a few months, we’ve been birding like mad. As I’ve mentioned before, birding is similar to hiking, but involves a lot of standing around. Naturally, I slowly freeze when it’s cold. We were tromping through the snow, standing, listening, scanning the trees. We didn’t see a lot. However, we got an excellent view of a goshawk, so it was worth it.

We’re at the edge of the treeline, so we’re mostly in the shade. I’m wearing a new jacket I got for Christmas, a Patagonia down sweater hoody. I’ve layered a fleece shirt and a nano puff vest underneath. I’m wearing Santana insulated hiking boots, jeans (and long underwear), hat, gloves, and neck gaiter. It was not overkill!