| NOVEMBER 27, 2010 After dealing with days of cold, snow
and nasty road conditions, I bailed on plans to backpack with a friend
to Goldmyer Hotsprings and offered this snowshoe trip as a consolation
prize. My granddaughter spent Thanksgiving weekend with me, so she
came along for her first ever snowshoe trip. It was raining and
foggy as we drove through Morton, Randle and Packwood, but the skies
were clear by the time we reached White Pass. The sun broke
through and there was a deep layer of fresh powder--ideal conditions
even if it was cold.
If I thought this section of the PCT was beautiful (and I did) when
I backpacked it earlier this year, I was
absolutely enchanted by it in winter. We set Deer Lake as our goal
for this trip and started the steady climb up. But by the time we
had completed all the elevation gain and were an easy 1/2 mile hike away
from the lake, our young adventurer was too cold and tired to go any
farther. We stopped for a quick lunch and hot cocoa break by a
large open meadow, then hiked back down. Downhill is always
easier, especially when the trail has already been broken, so we made
quick work of the hike out. We stopped for a hot lunch and hot
chocolate on the way home. |
