Most of you who know me are very aware that I love sun and warm weather (why I live in Seattle I have no idea, I need an offer to move to sunshine soon lol). So the fact that I have fallen in love with snowshoeing is crazy. Maybe it is because the best way to get out of the doom and gloom of a Seattle winter is to wander over the mountains to the sunny side, maybe its because I enjoy getting outside as much as possible, maybe its because I have started to hike more frequently over the last year and have some fun trips planned this year…whatever the reason I am having a blast. For the last three weekends I have visited three new places and burned a ton of calories with this new sport. This blog will cover my last two trips and you can find my first trip if you look at my past blogs.
Trip two was 6 miles on the Wenatchee Crest Trail. This trail is just over 2 hours from Seattle on the top of Blewett Pass. Get there early as the parking fills up pretty quickly. The views of the valley were breathtaking and it seemed like each corner we turned offered an even more beautiful landscape. This is a pretty flat trail with a few hills here and there but definitely one that anyone could enjoy. It is 6 miles round trip and the trail is very easy to follow. There were quite a few people on the trail but was still very enjoyable. We were starving afterwards and decided to drive into Leavenworth for mustardwurst und fries at Rhein Haus for lunch and a quick stop at the Cheesemongers (have to feed my cheese addition haha). It was the perfect way to end a fabulous day.
Trip three was in a part of the State I do not think I have ever been…how is this possible? We drove for only about an hour from my house but over half of that was with no cell service…middle of nowhere for sure. We reach the road closure, parked on the side of the road and geared up. It was about 3 miles of snowshoeing from our car to the beginning of the trail head (this is actually the road leading to the park but in the winter it is closed to traffic and is a snowy wonderland. It was a nice flat trek and went along the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River to Big Four Ice Caves Park and trail head. There were some other snowshoers, cross country skiers, a few snow bikes and snowmobiles but very few. It was another mile over boardwalks and bridges covered with snow to a number of switchbacks leading up to Big Four Mountain. We braved going into the avalanche zone and when we reached the end of trail we had it all to ourselves. The view of the mountain in the blue sunshine was exhilarating. We could see where the opening of the caves would be in the summertime (it is covered with snow with no access during winter). After a rest break we began the return down the trail where we passed a few others going to the top. Upon arriving to the car my legs were so wobbly but it felt amazing. 8 miles and 1600 calories burned, this workout is no joke!
What might have been the coolest part of the day was seeing this little guy as we were leaving. Now the question is where is his mom and why is he not hibernating…we did not stick around to find out why!
I am excited to get at least one more weekend of snowshoeing in so stay tuned…Then hiking season starts!
Happy Travels