Louisville Nature Center/Creason Park, 1 Jan. 1999: About 15 of us did a short hike in about half an inch of snow after (during?) the party.

Edwardsville, 3 Jan.: Ten hiked a 4-mile trail in the knobs near Edwardsville, Ind. We hiked on about an inch of fallen snow and sometimes in falling snow, with temperatures in the upper teens. We thawed and ate at Sam's restaurant in Floyds Knobs.

Mammoth Cave Natl. Park, 10 Jan.: Six people (1 new) went on this early-starting hike in the snow. When we got to the park, we learned that, because the Green River was high, both ferries were closed. This meant we had to drive another 20-something miles to get to where we wanted to hike. Not long after we started down the First Creek Trail, we saw that part of the trail was under water (First Creek was high, too). So we went the other way on the trail, back across the road. We ended up having a nice six- or seven-mile hike through pretty, icicle-draped scenery. We ate back in Louisville at Pho 777, a Vietnamese restaurant.

Knobstone Trail, 24 Jan.: Eleven hikers (1 new) did a through hike from Pixley Knob Road to the New Chapel trailhead. This was more than eight miles, since we hiked 4.5 hours with only short breaks. The weather was in the 40s with a chilly breeze, but climbing the hills kept us warm. We ate at Schuler's near Henryville.

Knobstone Trail, 31 Jan.: Since it was raining steadily, the seven diehard hikers decided not to go all the way up to Jackson-Washington State Forest as planned. Instead, we went to the beginning of the Knobstone Trail at Deam Lake. The rain got heavier as we hiked. We hiked at most five miles, including a side trip to the lake. We didn't eat as a group.