All Terrain Hikers!

One Winter Day We Decided To Snowshoe To Copper Creek Hut, Mt. Tahoma Trails. Mom And I Were Confident As We Started On The Trail.   

There Were Mile Markers. Instead of the 3.5 miles we were expecting, the trail was 5.5 miles since the starting place was lower than usual due to road conditions.

We Took A Break For Lunch after making it up the first BIG hill.

There Were Two Trails But We Continued To Go Straight on the groomed trail.

Don't Ask What That Birdhouse Looking Thing Is. Instead Research It If You Want To Know.

The Camera Was A Time Keeper. Quit taking random pictures mom!

It Started To Snow So I Caught Snowflakes On My Tongue.

There Were A Lot Of Things On This Sled.

There Are A Lot Of Signs.

So Close.

Yay!!!!!! We Made It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Closer.

We Look Back.

Even Closer.

 We Wrote A Poem.

 Here Is What It Says: The snopark road was closed and muddy

The mud felt a bit like silly putty.

We walked determinedly up the hill

An eight year old snowshoer and her mom until.

We found the top and the climb leveled.

We had our lunch-in the tuna we reveled.

We wore our snowshoes for 10 minutes.

When the trail was bear we said,"Good riddance"

The sun came out for just a bit

Then it snowed hard but we didn't quit.

Mom was pulling a heavy sled

With food and sleeping bags for our bed.

Some ravens watched from close by

It started to rain but we did not cry.

Getting closer the miles clicked down

It was nice to be so far from town.

We found the hut and gave a shout

Hurray we did it and did not pout

We are grateful to Mt. Tahoma Trails

For such a nice hut though it did rain bails.    

Pretty, huh?

Copper Creek hut is a BEAUTIFUL hut complete with games, cookware, propane heat, solar power, books and magazines. The hut sleeps 14 so you often meet new friends! There were two couples and a group of coworkers at the hut this night. Everyone was very friendly and shared food and supplies.

 Mom and I played many games including Monopoly for the first time. Mom went bankrupt quickly and I won! The coworkers had a game of charades and taboo that they made up clues for. I was their time keeper and took my job very seriously. They were very friendly. In the morning we had to leave the cozy hut and head back out into the snow.

A Picture. Mooooooom! A snowshoe dropped off the sled on the way back but our new friends found it and caught up with us!

Prayer Flags in honor of a volunteer named Judy who was such a special person!

We Finished The Hike And Had A Nice Drive Home. See you next time Mt. Rainier!

First snowshoe of the year December 2015- kid free adventure

 We headed to Maxwell Butte last December 2015 with NO KIDS!

Gil had always hated snow adventures, particularly heading uphill but was in much better shape for this endeavor. We were with our friends, Monica and Sarah, and Monica and I are bent toward snowy challenges.

Maxwell Butte is one of my favorite places to snowshoe. It is somewhat close to Salem, somewhat groomed, but still feels natural in the trees and not a snowmobile destination.

I always try to remember to look up! So much of life is spent not remembering what might be above the trees!

The snow was lovely, fluffy, and good for walking in.

It was partly sunny and we got warm quickly climbing up the hill.

Since we did not have kids we were able to go up further than we have before, some to my husbands chagrin but he endured it without cursing so that is an improvement at least!

Monica was in her element and leading the way.

Sarah and Monica taking a break.

Gil held up the rear but mostly stayed with us. This was not a destination trip and we just enjoyed the trail.

We saw some folks with large backpacks heading up to the shelter for the night. I am not a fan of carrying weight on my back while snowshoeing, particularly uphill.

We were surrounded by snow covered trees and greatly enjoyed this rare day together without kids.

Snowshoeing Challenge around Clear Lake

 We had a huge amount of snow in Portland but decided to keep our rental cabin plan and headed to Clear Lake Resort on Sat of MLK weekend. We stopped at Santiam sledding hill.

 The day was sunny and beautiful. While Amy sledded on the hill and Gil and Analise played with skis, I took a walk around and up the hill.

 There was a nice view of Mt. Washington and Three Fingered Jack.

 I enjoyed the top of the hill and snowshoed back around to the sledding area.

 This is Hayrick Butte across the street near the Hoodoo ski area.

 Lunch, sledding, and my high walk did not last very long, and we were on our way to finish our trip to Clear Lake Resort.

 We unpacked and got cozy in our cabin. I took another walk before dinner while my family stayed cozy inside the cabin.

 I enjoyed seeing glimpses of Mt. Washington.

 The lake was beautiful. The next morning, we woke up and packed up to Tombstone Pass where I started questioning hiking with kids because 1/4 mile down the trail there was much whining and complaining. Oh well, at least Tombstone Pass was beautiful.

 We headed back to Clear Lake Resort and had lunch. After lunch I was invited to drive to Suttle Lake with our friends but decided I did not need to drive to circle a lake. I took my emergency supplies and started the hike circling Clear Lake on my own.

 Mt. Washington in the bright sunshine was so pretty. I was mesmerized by the view and failed to look at the map to see how far I was hiking.

 Our friends had warned me about the snow covered bridges. They weren't too scary today. I felt confident in my ability to circle this lake.

 Here is a bit snowier bridge but still quite safe to cross.

 On the other side of the lake I was in a winter wonderland of snow covered trees and lake views.

 The lake is a bit bigger than it looks from the dock and this is the easier, more hiked part of the lake.

 The snow was lovely.

 Here is the boat dock across the lake where I started my hike.

 I enjoyed the deep snow and sunshine.

 The lake was still quite snowy.

 I was making good progress and took a brief break.

 The snow was sparkling. The trees were dropping a little snow but I moved quickly to not get dumped on.

 The path continued to be pretty good but a little less traveled on this side of the lake.

 There was still some ice, but it was starting to melt.

 I continued my journey around the lake, enjoying the solitude.

 I made it to another corner. I saw the trail split and made a decision to continue straight thinking it was too early for another crossing.

 Unfortunately, that decision added a mile to my hike and a little bit of suffering!

 This side of the lake was very deceptive- I seemed to be close to the lodge and then walked a long way away from it before coming to a road crossing where I could continue around.

 The snow was deeper and trail harder to break.

I did get an incredible view of the Three Sisters. I returned in mostly darkness an hour and a half later than anticipated, 4 hours after I started hiking 6 pretty challenging miles. My family was worried but I assured them that I had missed a turn and felt accomplished with completing this challenge.