Although April showers bring May flowers, there’s been nary a drop here in Northern California. Still, hope springs eternal. So does Spring. Particularly when accompanied by a robust vaccination rollout.

One minute after we booked our first shots, we also booked our first trip in ages–a long weekend of hiking around Auburn, California. Hoping not to become April Fools, my husband and I set out April 1, almost two months after our second jab.

Auburn’s a picturesque Gold Rush town, and the American River runs through it.

Snow melt, such as it is, makes the river flow, the wildflowers are resplendent from the bit of rain we got in March, and fire season, while in our consciousness, was not yet in the air. Our self-contained Airbnb with kitchen facilities and good wi-fi awaited after a day on the trails:

Since I had cleverly sprained my ankle a week before our trip, I came equipped with a good brace and my laptop in case I had to spend our weekend at our studio while Jonathan hiked. I am happy to report that the brace worked, and I didn’t crack the laptop even once.

It was a gorgeous trip, one we savored even more given the limitations of the previous year:

There was even a rainbow at the end of our last hike, a good omen before heading home: