Snowshoe All The Way!

FA!  LA!  LA!  LA!  LA!  LA!  LA!   LA!  LA!

Tis' the season to

That chorus encapsulates the theme of today's adventure with the exception of numerous frantic moments when "laugh and play" turned into "alarm and rescue".   This day of ringing in the Christmas season was in the making for a couple of weeks and came to fruition today with a snowshoe trip into Fox Lake.  We were 99.9% certain we would have 100% ownership of the Lake, there would be many trees to choose from to decorate and the snow amount and quality would be up to our standards.

We had hoped for a blue sky day, but those hopes fell by the wayside. We made our way along a short portion of the Hydroline, followed along Fox Creek and the Elk Pass Trail, passed through West Elk Pass on our way across the border into British Columbia and finally to Fox Lake.

Snow quality exceeded our expectations!

Snow amounts surpassed our hopes!

In a surprisingly shorter amount of time then planned for, we reached Fox Lake.  We each brought ornaments that had special meaning and found a perfect little tree to place the decorations.  Take note that we are standing back from the tree and leaning in for the placings.  We had just previously experienced our first "alarm and rescue".   

Our tree!

Our thoughts were with you G-Force as we placed this decoration which Short Stop brought for you!

My destination shot for ringing in the Christmas season.

Once the tree was returned to the way we found it, we packed up and continued on with our day, now in search of a sheltered spot to dine.  But before that happened, the second "alarm and rescue" situation occurred.  We recovered from that. We next found a lovely spot in the big, tall, snowy trees which gave us total shelter and protection.  We flattened the area, pulled out warmer cloths to sport along with our Santa hats,  spread out our lunch and began to settle in.   Never, ever, ever did we imagine what would happen next!  Never, ever in our lives did any of us experience this third type of "alarm and rescue" event. 

Out of the blue, a hurricane, typhoon, blizzard, squall enveloped us.  We wished we had scrambling helmets on instead of Santa hats.  Tonnes of gigantic, hard piles of snow were plummeting down on our heads and bodies and there was fear we could get injured or even knocked out.  We were covered in snow, packs filled with snow, food went missing in snow and my friend began to disappear in snow.      

Fast and furiously, we gathered ourselves and gear together then raced to an open safe area.  

Twenty or so minutes later, we arrived here.

We settled in.

We quickly ate.

After dining, we had energy back, a bit of blue sky appeared, our spirits were lifted and we were able to "laugh and play" again as we began our trek back.  We were still in a bit of disbelief about our "alarm and rescue" incidents but could laugh about each one of them now that we were safe.

We followed our trail back.

Made a detour, followed Patterson to the Hydroline and bee-lined it to the bottom and the vehicle. 

Just like "remember to breathe" can have whatever meaning you want it to have for you, "believe" can too!  I found many moments today to "breathe" and "believe".  These moments make memories.  I am happy we accomplished our most important pursuit of the day.   Through the thick and thin, snow and fog, total relief finally kicked in when I walked into the front hall of my home and closed the door behind me.

Breathe and Believe!