I met a group of the Valley Wanderers up at the Mine Parking lot today to snowshoe up to the mine. You can walk, ski or snowshoe straight up the closed road or take a walking trail through the snow. My dog, Bella was really cold, even with her heavy snowsuit and her little red booties. Once we all started up the road, she refused to walk. I had no choice but to load her into my backpack and carry her. It always takes a couple minutes to accomplish that task, because she turns into a jiggling bag of wiggling worms. Sometimes it's a lot like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube. It was bitter cold up there and my hands were freezing through the whole process. I actually got her in and the pack back on my back pretty quickly. But by then the whole group was out of sight. I walked as fast as I could hoping to somehow catch up. I didn't see them anywhere up ahead. When I came to the junction of the walking trail, I decided to take that rather than track up the groomed ski trail. By the time I was halfway to the mine, I still didn't see them. I texted the leader who said they were now at the mine. I almost turned back, but it was so beautiful and sunny I decided to just continue at least to the mine itself. Once I got there, I finally saw them far above the mine and realized there was no way I could ever catch up at that point. I walked a little farther and took some pictures. Then decided to turn back the way I had come. It was a bit disappointing to be left behind, but I still enjoyed a 2 mile hike in the sunshine. Bella seemed fairly content wrapped up in all of her winter clothes, cozy in my backpack.
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