Merry Christmas to Me

Christmas came early to me this year. My credit card and REI teamed up and got me these things:


Keen Targhee waterproof boots,
Mountain Hardware gaiters,
and Atlas Electra snowshoes.

Way to go Santa!!

So yesterday Zoe and I took all the new cool stuff and went up to Mt. Hood for some fun in the snow. We went to Trillium Lake which is a nice, though somewhat short, loop around the lake with some supposed views of Mt. Hood (note - I did not take this photo). This is the second time I've walked around this lake, and both times I've failed to see the mountain. Hmm....

The snow was ok. There wasn't any powder, and it was pretty crusty, but we had a good time anyway. The lake was frozen over, though we didn't venture out to see how thick the ice was. There were tons of other snowshoers and skiers too, luckily it's a long enough loop that at some point you do get some time/space to yourself. And there are lots of side trails you can take to get away from any crowds you might encounter. We didn't do this since I wasn't sure how long Zoe could handle the cold snow on her feet and I figured the 4 1/2 miles around the lake would be long enough for her.

That was probably a good thing because she kept getting ice built up in the copious amount of fur she has between her pads. Each time this happened she would stop in the middle of the trail and just sit, waiting for me to come over and doctor up her feet. When I first put the boots on she was so happy to have ice-free, warm feet again, she took off at a full sprint down the trail. When I finally caught up to her, she took off again! She did this several more times until she finally wore herself out.

I can't wait to go again when there's more powder...maybe do some real back-country stuff away from all the crowds.