Fox Lake a foxy kind of fun

I was aiming for a day characterized by childlike abandon plus gladly accepting any type of weather/scenery/conditions that would come our way.  I knew for sure Short Stop would be on that exact same page as me, so we made the plan for a snowshoe adventure to Fox Lake where there would be no doubt we could execute the plan.  Given this was to be my first snowshoe trek of the season and also not quite being 100% me, I was game to give it my all and try to go the distance.

Gear wise I was prepared for the -17C + windchill, I just needed to get there in my head and as it turned out, that was not an issue at all.  We were afforded beauty, prettier than I was expecting, right from the get-go and it only got better as our day progressed.  We beelined straight up the center of the hydroline in favour of getting that over with sooner.  We made our way along the creek side then arrived at the intersection.  

I have been in this area numerous times and each time I spied a wide open meadow on the other side of the forest.  Each time, I wondered what was over there. It was finally time to find out.  We wondered around a bit, stepping gingerly as we could tell the snow was deep and we did not want to sink.  It was so sparkly and pristine.  

We arrived at the picnic table and only took a few minutes to admire the view.

 We then veered off towards Fox Lake.   

It could not look more prettier than it did at this moment in time.  

us

It took some time to get to Fox Lake.  It wasn't because we had to break trail to the kiosk, we were fortunate that had been completed in prior days, but it was the scenery and all the snow that was so distracting.

the sun was just reaching high enough to peek through the trees

at the kiosk

We broke trail from the kiosk to Fox Lake in a tiny bit of an unplanned round about way.  

We snapped some shots of the Lake before settling down to dine.  

a sign on Fox Lake

such a perfect snow cap

icicle at our dining location

We picked a spot in the sun and enjoyed our lunch and the scenery and took a few moments to remember and acknowledge Short Stop's sister and my brother, who we both lost very recently.  Then it was time to be....to be kids at heart.  We ran, jumped, laughed, fell, sunk, crawled then sighed taking a deep breath feeling exhausted.   

at the point of no return

After all that, it was time to pack up and hit the trail back, which happened to be in an unplanned round about way.  We did not really need the added distance today but hey, everywhere we ended up planned or unplanned, was pretty, pretty, pretty.  This was the view as we left from the kiosk.  

Today was exactly what I needed.  If I cannot be near the ocean then I will take the mountains.  So very different yet so much the same, in a certain way to me anyway.  Thank you for sharing this day with me and for just being you.