Government Peak Race Trail Snowshoe

There is still so much snow everywhere but it has warmed up considerably. Today it reached 50 degrees. I snowshoed with three of the Valley Wanderers to the second picnic table on the Government Peak Race Trail. We pondered whether to wear grippers or snowshoes. But after a little consideration, we all decided it is better to walk with snowshoes than to carry them. Our snowshoes have sharp claws on the bottom that make them just as useful on ice as our microspikes. It's better to have snowshoes when you don't need them, than to find yourself in deep snow without them. They are kind of a pain to carry regardless of what kind of pack or carrying process you use. Plus they can feel kind of heavy. It didn't take long to know we had made the right decision by wearing them from the start. The trail is pretty steep in a lot of places, and can be tricky walking in snowshoes. But we all made it to the second table easily. Bella was delighted to be bouncing along the trail with us, usually following close behind the leader, who was usually Chris. I did put her back on the leash to avoid a couple of dogs and the remains of an unlucky porcupine along the trail. I did worry that she might try to eat the quills. She can be weird like that. But she passed them without even noticing them. My left knee was doing some complaining. I noticed that on Sunday while skiing all day up at Skeetawk. But after awhile, it seemed to resolve itself. We turned at the lower table on our descent, and took a mountain bike trail that led to the Fireweed Trail at Government Peak Recreation Area. In places the trail was rather vague and not recently traveled, but we had little trouble finding the actual trail. Bella walked on it as if she knew the way all along even though she has never been there before. Lower on the route, we joined the Race Trail again because it was more heavily traveled. The forecast cloudy day turned out to be a beautiful mostly sunny day. By the time we were down, the snow had gotten very soft due to the warm temperatures. Even with snowshoes sometimes we would sink in a foot or more. It won't be long before we're hiking on dry ground to the summit.

Bella following the leader, Chris