Snow Shoeing with Kylie and Friends

Kylie's 16th birthday was January 19th.  I wanted to do something different, and special, and fun for her big day.  We decided going up to Port Angeles, staying over night, and going snow shoeing at Hurricane Ridge would fit the bill.  Then January 18th we got dumped on by a huge snow storm and we had our fill of snow fun in our own backyard. Driving for over an hour to play in the snow didn't sound so different, or special, or fun anymore.  

We waited until the memories of snow faded and decided the long weekend over President's Day would be a good time to go.  Instead of spending the night up in Port Angeles, Kylie's friends, Aubrey and Erin, spent the night at our house and we left early this morning. When we arrived at the Hurricane Ridge Ranger Station, we were disappointed to find that the road up to the Ridge was closed.  The conditions at Hurricane Ridge are very unpredictable.  There's lots of snow up there, but the avalanche danger is high right now because of rain.  One of the rangers suggested we try Deer Park, so we headed there.  This is what we found when we got to the end of the vehicle accessible road:

No snow and rain. (You can't tell from the picture, but it was raining lightly.)  The Ranger had promised us if we hiked up the road a bit, we would find snow.  So we started walking.  

About a mile up, the snow appeared and we put on the snow shoes.

We were all beginners and weren't sure what to expect.  

After the first few steps, we figured it out.  It's really easy, and fun!

Aubrey's mom, Chantal, came along, too.  I'm glad she did; it was nice for me to have a friend there, too!

Kylie wore the "antique" snowshoes and carried our lunch in her back pack.  She's always willing to take on the heavier load and the harder task, just one of the things I love about her!

The snow wasn't very deep, only 4 to 6" at the most, and even less in some places.  It was raining steadily by the time we'd gone a few miles.  We stopped to eat our lunch under some trees and then headed back to the car because we were soaked and getting cold.  We all enjoyed ourselves, though, and decided we'll definitely have to go snow shoeing again. The girls think that snow shoeing up a mountain and building igloos to sleep sounds like fun.  I think it sounds cold!