It snowed all night and was still snowing this morning when I woke up. I had decided to hike with the Walkabouts hiking group to the Ptarmigan Valley Trail. If you go the whole way it would be about 10 miles round trip. Our plan was to go as far as we wanted. The last time I hiked here we went 7.2 miles round trip but today we turned around early doing 5.2 miles instead. It was snowing the entire time we were hiking and still snowing the whole way driving home. The trail was covered in at least 5 or 6 inches of snow and got deeper as we went. A couple miles in we came to the junction of the summer and winter trails. The winter trail is usually well packed from snow machine activity. But since it is early in the season all we had was a single set of footprints that seemed to follow both options. Several of our group decided they were ready to turn back, and the rest of us continued on. First, we started on the winter trail. We came to a spot where there was some open water close to the surface, making it uncomfortable and a little dangerous. So, we turned back to the junction and took the summer trail instead. This trail was a lot steeper and narrower than the winter trail. It climbs up a couple of hills and winds through the trees. The snow was deep enough that it was becoming a little difficult, although it was still possible to walk without snowshoes. Both trails join together at some point, but we ended up being forced to turn back before that. A huge spruce tree had fallen and was lying across the trail. It would have been very difficult and not worth the trouble to try to find a way around it. So, we all made that our turning point and went back the way we came. Once we got back to the junction, the rest of the trip was fairly easy going. The 2 little dogs, Bella and Dahla were slowing down because they were starting to build up large snowballs on their legs and feet. Bella did a little better than Dahla because she was well covered in her snowsuit that covers most of her legs. But her long hair below the cuffs still collected a number of small ones. It was a very enjoyable hike with the peaceful beauty of snow falling on snow. I love hiking in a snowstorm because it is always so peaceful and silent. I look forward to coming back in the summer to see what this summer trail is like. I imagine it is very beautiful.
The fallen tree across the trail |