the White Ledge trail again

Today's hike: 4.3 mi | 3.5 h | 1.2 mph

We snowshoed around the White Ledge Loop again, this morning. It was a fabulous, blue-sky day. We'd had some light snow yesterday, and didn't expect to see any broken trail. In fact, it looked like one or two people had been around the entire loop, either yesterday or today.

White Ledge Trail sign submerged in snow

I like to break trail, so it was a little disappointing. However, on a day like today, you can't stay grumpy for long.

Trail on the approach to the lookout. Animal tracks accompanied us most of the way.

We went counter-clockwise. Once you pass the lookout, you get to the really fun section, where there's wide open space, and you can pretty much make your own trail. It's a moderate downhill walk, and you're basically floating on deep snow. Super fun!

Make your own trail!

Nice hike! I hope the snow keeps coming so we can do this a few more times before the season ends.

narrow trail on the way back

Boulder Loop Trail after the snow

We got some nice snow on Tuesday of last week. So we went back to check out the Boulder Loop Trail.

The parking lot has been completely plowed, now, so there's plenty of parking, once again. Thank you, government workers!

Driving in, we noted a team of perhaps eight people hauling 3-4 sledges. We thought maybe they were going ice-climbing.

Ever optimistic, we left our snowshoes in the car, taking only our Microspikes, and headed in. We passed the people with sledges, and asked what they were doing. Their plan was to go cook a meal, somewhere up on the trail where there's a view. It was quite an undertaking: they were carrying several heavy-duty pots and pans, and even a set of metal folding chairs!

After passing them and taking off on the left branch of the loop, the snow covering the trail began to get just a little choppy. We weren't post-holing, because the trail had been packed down pretty well by snowshoers over the last week. But our feet were slipping, creating divots in the snow, and the going wasn't easy. There were a few windswept areas where the snow deepened, too.

We got to the first lookout, then turned around and came back. In good weather, this would take us less than 30 minutes, but it took us about an hour. We encountered the intrepid team of winter chefs on the way down, struggling upwards with their sledges. I wonder what they made?

windswept Boulder Loop Trail