When all is said and done, it is a vision like this that I hope to see. This kind of view is what motivates me to be "out & about" and what keeps me coming back for more. Sometimes in life these loves don't come easily but I try to forget the effort that goes into getting to my love and just be thankful that I am with fun friends sharing our passion in life. It's about the journey though and the journey began at 7:30am when we met in the city to face our day at the playground.
I have been on this journey a few times and it is different & feels new each time.
I wonder what will be in store for us today as we leave the trail head!
We made good time along the Watridge Trail to Watridge Lake. It is not enough just to visit the Lake, we opted to circumnavigate the edge to the far end. The work began here as we broke trail through deep heavy snow the whole way. With strong trail breakers we made good time here too.
We left Watridge Lake and put our route finding skills to work to bushwhack and trail break through the forest back out to the main trail then down to the first bridge. The river was wide open and the views began, yet they were somewhat gray to start.
We found our way to the stump section.
This was the perfect place for lunch. There were many stumps to choose from to settle down on and dine. We had no wind so my tea poured straight into the cup. The ginger tea paired perfectly with my chickpea/penne/chicken salad, boiled egg, and multi-grain rounds. Lunch was just long enough to fuel up then we carried on with photo ops and more trail breaking.
When it was safe to do so we snowshoed close to the Spray River. The river was wide and more open than before so for a large stretch it was necessary to be up higher where we were in deep snow and trail breaking again. I was glad to have a happy strong trail breaker game to lead the way.
The further along we went it became safe to go down onto the river and admire the ice bubbles.
on the Spray River
Finally the gray turned to blue and it shed a whole new light on the views and on my spirit.
It was nothing but beauty before us. This section was easy going yet I was beginning to feel tired. We still had a long way to go. I stayed focused though, focused on the scenery and nothing but.
the ice was pretty in pictures
What's a snowshoe trek without a little flipping fun!
It took all my energy to flip that tiny bit of wet heavy snow!
the only wildlife we saw all day
We reached Spray Lake and we verified the route we needed to take and checked the conditions before stepping out onto it and then we monitored it along the way. It was safely solid for the entire stretch. I love a shadow shot and we were afforded a perfect one.
breaking trail
taking time to admire the scenery
the ice makes the photo
As we reached the end of Spray Lake and entered the forest I had one last look back. I captured this physical shot and then took a minute to capture a mental image. I could not have wished for a last view back to look any more perfect than this. Then we entered the forest, reached the X-C Ski trail and snowshoed along side it back to our ride.
All safe & sound, all maybe a little sore in spots, all maybe a little tired, we fell into the vehicle and headed home. There is always so much to be thankful for and to appreciate. I think about these things every time after our play date in the mountains. Thank you for everything about today, to our driver, to our trail breaker, to friends being fun and playing safe!
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