Oh what fun with all this new snow and wind!!!! My birthday hike up to Lonesome Lake was perfect!!! We had a cold day, lots of snow and wind!

Snowshoes have been a must this winter with the often warm and fluctuating temperatures. Add wind and snow blowing off a lake…..and you have a recipe for deep, drifting snow and some great fun on those snowshoes!

The trail was well packed but soft on the hike up. The temps were cold but as soon as we got moving the layers came off. After about an hour, we arrived at the top and all the layers went back on! The wind was howling and snow was flying across the lake. We decided to hike around the lake to the hit rather than hike across it over the ice. Temperatures have been fluctuating wildly this year and we didn’t trust the ice. Additionally, the wind out on the lake was just crazy. We decided to hike under cover of the trees.

Between the wind and snow squalls that had started, we hiked around the lake in knee deep drifts. We stopped at the Lonesome Lake hut and gobbled up our lunches we had packed. The two hikers I was with were thrilled as they had never done this hike before. The wind had made the hike that much more fun!

We signed the register at the hut on our way out and headed back around the lake. It was as if we had never been on the trail! The drifts were back and our snowshoe tracks were gone!

Headed back down the trail, we talked about how glad we were that we had chosen snowshoes! The trail at the top would have been difficult without them. This lake is one of my favorite hikes and I was sure to thank my friends for coming with me for my birthday hike.

Ciao for now…..Karen