Hike 90 2020

September 12 - Unexpected but not unwelcome

If you didn’t know by now, winter is our favorite season. It may be cold and it may be windy, but there’s nothing quite like hiking on snow covered trails with two fluffy dogs that love romping around in it. 

Although winter comes with its own added risks and dangers such as avalanches, hidden hazards in the snow, freezing temperatures, and more, we are prepared by carrying the 10 hiking essentials for both dogs and humans. During mid-winter I also make sure to check avalanche and trail reports as well as avoiding avalanche-prone areas in general. 

For this hike, we woke up at 2:45am, left at 3:30am and got to the trailhead around 5:40am giving us plenty of time to get us and the dogs ready before the sun came up. With the snowstorm we had a few days prior, and reports of another light sprinkling in the mountains the night before, we weren’t exactly too sure what the trail conditions would be like, but nevertheless we were prepared for anything with several different layers of clothing, including gloves and hats, as well as booties for the dogs in case the trial was too snowy. I’ve mentioned it before but Maxi tends to have sensitive paws even on slightly cold or slightly warm surfaces so we’re prepared to put on booties if needed and I check his feet regularly along hikes.

When we started our hike it was dark, cold and windy. The sun was just hitting the tops of the surrounding mountains and it would be another hour and a half before it reached us on the trail. Within the trees, the trail was slightly snowy and icy but it wasn’t difficult to navigate around.

As we climbed higher the wind grew stronger making it even colder and once out of tree-line we had to bundle up even more. The dogs were enjoying it though! Maxi was taking every rest opportunity to find patches of snow and lay down on them.

Looking ahead of us to the pass we were planning to hike to we could see the trail leading up was very snowy.

The surrounding mountains were making their own clouds when snow blew off them

We weren’t expecting there to be as much snow as there was, but with that said, we were prepared for it. As we started our next ascent up the side of the mountain we put the dogs booties on to protect their paws and keep them warm. Eventually the sun peaked over the mountains and provided us with added warmth as well. Along the trail there were lots of snow drifts that had formed due to high winds overnight.

There were no other footprints on the trail up to the pass so we knew we were the first up there that morning. It was still cold and windy but the views were so breathtaking it was worth it.

After spending some time at the pass, we made our way back down, stopping several more times to take pictures.

As we headed down it started to warm up quite a bit and the trail was already starting to melt. We took off most of our layers as well as took off the dogs’ booties.

We hiked a total of 7.6 miles with 1,800 ft of elevation gain. The snow on the surrounding mountains was an added treat, the views couldn’t have been better!