Sunshine Meadows Winter White

With Spring being so close I can taste it, a bit of panic set in that I have not donned my snowshoes enough this winter so it is cram time while ideal conditions prevail.  There is no place much better than being of top of the world to experience a true snowshoe adventure.  I put the shout out and friends were unquestionably on board to join me in riding the gondola up to Sunshine Village and snowshoeing with hearts delight out and beyond.

The forecast was for blue and white for awhile then all out white.  We had all out winter white from the second we began to the second our adventure ended.  The only colors in our day were our clothing and conversation.  Sunshine was blessed with 30 to 40 centimeters (12 to 16 inches) of snow over the past two days.  All that new snow made for many pillows, large drifts, and a full body workout. We aimed first for Rock Isle Lake which we crossed, climbed up onto the Isle, and then down the other side.  

Next was finding our way to Grizzly Lake.  If you have been here in another season you will know this sign is approximately eye high give or take a few inches here and there. With another foot of snow, you would be snowshoeing right over top of it.

no going here this time of year

We carefully worked our way through the creek section just before Grizzly Lake

someone had been prior, not sure how prior though but thank you for being here

It was so winter white that in some places it was hard to tell where the snow ended and the sky began.  

delightful drifts

We reached Larix Lake and made this our second stop of the day.  We settled in the trees for what shelter we could find from the falling flurries to dine. Fortunate for us all day, the temperature was ideal and there was no wind.  The low lying cloud (but then again how low is it when we are so high to begin with up here on top of the world) rolled in and out, at times offering up a tease of a view.  

We reached Rock Isle Lake again and decided our insatiable appetite for trail breaking through all this winter white was not satisfied yet.  We followed our previously made track back for a bit then veered off......

.....to the trail that heads towards Citidal Pass.  We encountered deeper snow with air pockets below and there was a whoomph here and there.  We were safely out in the middle of the back country surrounded by wide open meadows and mountains in the far off distance.  So the deep snow pockets and whoomphs added to making this a true snowshoeing adventure.  

We carried on out along making a trail to a look over point where we took our third stop of the day to refuel enough to get us back to the Village.  On the return is where we stopped for our group shot.

the guide poles in the winter white

We arrived back to the bustling Village and civilization where we found an out of the way spot to gear down.  Once that task was completed we then reeved up for scampering safely onto the Gondola, while it is in motion, with all our gear.   Back at the bottom, off and out of the way, a breathed a sigh of relief then expressed a WOW for the day.  

Thank you for sharing in this winter white adventure!