A winter hike - Split Rock Loop

Mr. Wildknits and I decided to take a drive up the shore and hike the Split Rock Loop. We chose to start out by walking the road section first and traversing the loop in reverse. This allowed us to tackle a steep climb (including a section with a lot of ice) early in the hike. It was nice to see the trail from this perspective - and it appeared we were the only folks who have hiked it in this way.

The northeast side of the Split Rock River was very sunny and warm today. Not so much on the southwest side. Since we delayed lunch until after crossing the bridge this made finding a sunny spot a bit of a challenge. We finally stopped at a bend in the river with a nice cedar whose roots we took advantage of for dry, snow-free seating.

While eating I noticed this little critter scurrying across the snow-covered river:

I didn't see any signs of wings, so am a bit baffled as to identification. Anyone have any ideas as to what it may be? Temperatures were in the upper teens to low 20's F at the time I took these photos. And this little guy could move fast! It was hard to capture pictures of it.

We tested out the ice on this section of the river and crossed it to check out a cedar that was growing in a crack in the rhyolite cliff. Pretty impressive perseverance  when you consider how high the river can get during spring ice out and storms. The roots were only a couple of feet above winter river level.

Mr. Wildknits took this opportunity to have me pose for a portrait.

Not sure why I have such a stern look on my face - maybe the sun? The cedar I photographed is just off to my left in this photo.  And then I thought I should get a shot next to the cedar. 

We got going again and between the lengthy stop and the shade I got a bit too chilled. This resulted in a minor Raynaud flare in my hands. Good motivator to hike fast to warm up. 

We finished out the hike by checking out the new pedestrian underpass at the wayside rest.