Brrrr! This was a cold one. Once again, I was in one of my favorite places in the world...Mount Adams! There is an access road up there that is always gated in the winter. I had figured I would just drive as close as I could get to that big green gate, park nearby and then hit the snow from there. Road hiking in really snowy conditions is actually a lot easier because you can tell where the trail is. Otherwise, unless you know the trail very well, it is so easy to get lost in deep snow. Every gap in the trees looks to be trail when the real thing is covered by feet of the white stuff. So this was the plan.
But when I arrived at that gate, I found it open. What?? No way, I thought. I paused momentarily wondering if someone had forgotten or if the ranger was up there now shutting things down. Well I didn't stop for long and put that truck into 4wd and started climbing up that terrible single track rutted and curvy road that seems to just climb and climb forever. If I didn't get stuck, I would be fine I figured. Thank goodness for off road tires was my next thought! That road is rough in summer, but it was rather miserable in winter for sure. I was praying no one came to close and lock the gate behind me. That thought would stay with me the entire day and was a good motivator to put some speed into my hiking! My other fear was since it was snowing so hard all day, I worried that I wouldn't be able to get my truck back down that road until Spring. This might be a really long day I thought to myself! But I had plenty of gear with me and knew God was on my side.
Now for those of you who watch closely, you will see that NovaLeigh was wearing her overnight pack. You might think this is a terrible time of year to backpack and you would mostly be correct. On this particular day however, Nova was wearing her pack so that she could have both of our portable warming devices on her. One in each of her saddle bags! It was such a cold day and the last time I had hiked this trail the same time of year I had all my water freeze solid...the entire bladder bag that lays flush to my back seriously froze and left me with no water for a 14 mile hike. I had my water filter, but didn't want to risk killing it by freezing the insides. So we ate snow that day and waited for the dehydration headaches to kick in later. Nova not only enjoyed her pack warmies on this hike though, but she also wore her fully fleece lined snow suit, along with her snood. She was one toasty puppy! She was a little sad when she found her favorite stream iced over. But was happy to lick some snow right before a bridge crossing. Thank goodness for the bridge this time of year!
I was apparently being lazy and not put my gaiters over my boots and pant legs which was my biggest mistake of the day. I had also decided to go without snow shoes so we could hike faster in the several feet of snow on the ground. This makes for a long wet slog even with the best pants and boots. The snow just packs into the tops of your boots without those gaiters and then slowly melts into both pairs of your socks. Once your socks are wet, you are going to start to blister. At the end of our 14-15 miles of snow hiking this day, my feet were pretty well trashed. I was in pain and bandaging for weeks after this one. Always remember your gaiters was my lesson on this day! But we made it to one of my favorite waterfalls in winter, which I had always wanted to do. Things were so cold however that the flow was the lightest I had ever seen. It seemed hardly a trickle in comparison to other times of the year.
When you find a hike that is a favorite, you want to do it in all seasons. It completely transforms the experience. What you feel, see, smell, hear and even taste in summer is wildly different from that in winter or fall or spring. I love that. Each time is it is like discovering your favorite hike all over again and for different reasons. Then if you can find different loops and trails within your favorite area, you can change it up each time you hike. Sometimes doing figure 8 loops and connecting different systems together or doing it counterclockwise instead of clockwise. I find it funny when people ask me if I get bored sometimes repeating the same trail each year.....how could I ever feel that way when each day on the trail can be so different!! I think God wants us to feel that way about life. We do many of the same things the same ways in our lives. So many people get bored with this. But we need to find the beauty in what we do and the different ways we can challenge ourselves even in the mundane. Besides in the winter time, there is always hot stew or chili in a thermos on my back. If that doesn't lift your spirits, I don't know what will! Nova loves sharing the spoon with me of course.
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