Unsurprisingly, given the continuing cool weather, there remain areas of the ravine where ice persists. Tributaries of the creek in varied parts of the ravine hold onto their ice. But this is not a rarity. In other years there have been persistent plots of the forest floor that refuse to surrender winter ice leftovers  to increasingly milder temperatures.

It is surprising, however, how quickly the forest floor is capable of absorbing so much rainwater. Not that the pools of water we encountered the day before yesterday have disappeared, nothing like it. They are, though, on their way to being absorbed. Jackie and Jillie have their own way of dealing with those puddles. Jillie delicately chooses to take a longer route to walk around them, or if it's achievable for her as a quite small dog, she'll leap them.

Jackie, typically like a male of any breed, is fairly heedless, preferring to plow straight ahead, muck, water, what-have-you, it's all the same to him. Which makes gearing them with their boots until the forest floor has assumed its late-spring persona, sensible at this point. The forest floor in many parts of the ravine remains void of any plant life as yet, but it'll all emerge in a burst of energized enthusiasm once we have achieved sufficient days of bright, warming sun and a cessation of constant rain events.

We came across a friend we haven't seen in a while, walking her little dog Iggy -- mostly beagle but with perhaps a few genes inherited from a Basset hound ancestor. Iggy's a happy little fellow, quite muted for a beagle, but like the breed has a tendency to wander -- oblivious to where his people are at any given time following his instinct as a hunting breed -- and they fear losing him. So he wears a harness which he struggles against when it's being fitted on him, and he's always on leash, pulling strenuously with the muscular strength of a determined little dog.

Now that the cold appears to have receded, Jackie and Jillie are able to set out for their daily walks unhindered by any coat not their own natural one. They may not notice the difference, but we've no doubt it's somewhat freeing for them despite that they also are geared with harnesses. We prefer not to use a leash attached to their collars. If they pull on the leash, at least the harness absorbs any shock, unlike a collar which would constrict their neck muscles.

Once again on yesterday afternoon's hike we came across a few snakes in the underbrush of old foliage. They weren't completely exposed to view, since they appear to prefer some cover at this juncture even while they're in search of the warming rays of the sun. Our close proximity didn't seem to alarm them, however, and it's good to see that this form of wildlife too is about and thriving in the forest, a healthy environment for all living creatures.