Snow Much Fun!

Snow day!  The best outdoor day ever.  To start the day off, I took about six inches of snow off the driveway.  Huge snowflakes started falling again while I was still out there.  The temperature was warm.  I had to take advantage of the day.  





 

I started off on the SWC snowshoe trail.  I was the first one out there since the last snow so there was an amazing amount of fluffy whiteness to walk through.  The big flakes fell lazily from the sky.  They landed silently in the crooks of the branches and on the dried grass heads.



A woodpecker's rat-a-tat-tat echoed through the forest.  That was the only sound that could be heard in addition to the crunch of snow underneath my snowshoes.  

 


When I got to Bennett Lake, I ventured off the beaten path.  I wandered along the shore line looking to see which animals had visited before me.  The grouse was trying to be invisible behind a willow thicket but the movement caught my attention.  I stood still and it eventually came out far enough for me to snap  a photograph.




As I continued along the shore, I saw branches stripped of bark.  The hares and the porcupines had been busy.  There were many different tracks coming out of the forest.  Deer, moose and coyotes ventured out of the trees in search of food on the snow- covered lake.

 
The snow was still falling when I got back to the parking lot.  As I was driving home, I knew that I could not spend the rest of the afternoon inside so when I got there, I grabbed my x-country skis and headed to the Cooking-Lake Blackfoot Recreation Area.  Today would be the first day this season that I took put on my skis.  

There were only about five vehicles in the parking lot when I pulled in.  The snow had stopped and the sun was trying to break through.  The trails were recently groomed and the skiing was incredible.


I skied the shortest loop, only 5kms,  since it was my first time out and I had already done 1.5 hours of snowshoeing.  When I stopped at a shelter for some water, 4 other skiers came by.  They were the only people I saw until I got to the second shelter where two snowshoers were taking a break.

I got back to the parking lot just before the wind picked up.  The temperature had gone up enough that the snow was beginning to become sticky on the bottom of my skis.  

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  Here's hoping that the weather will cooperate for another fantastic day because this one was 'snow' much fun!