11/24/06
As the rain pounded Western Washington throughout November, snow piled up in the mountains and beckoned us for a little snowshoe through the woods - work off some of that turkey from the day before. We took the puppies along as they love to romp in the snow and drove up hwy 410 towards Crystal Mountain.
The Ranger Creek area has several opportunities for recreation throughout the year, one of which is a nice large campground with an emergency airstrip nearby. The airstrip had once been used as an ATV area until the ground was torn up destroying elk habitat. Also, once the ATVers started plaing in the strip, they couldn't hear when a plane needed to land and tragedy did occur with a plane crashing for all the people playing below. The forest service did the only thing they could and forbade off-road vehicles from using the airstrip as a play area. There are still areas in the vicinity where they can play.
But on this day, silence is what greeted us as we stepped out into the freshly carpeted field. A few hardy folks were out camping in their RVs, although, they were keeping themselves warm in the comfort of propane heaters. We were pretty much alone and let the dogs loose for a good hardy romp. Only problem was the snow was deep - up to both dogs' chest (about 15 inches). Olympia, who has a vast experience with snow and snow being one of her favorite substances in the world did her best to plow right through. Pasco, being the wimpier of the two, decided the best way to deal with this frigid substance would be to take it in bounds. So ahead of us were our dogs, one happily trudging her way along and the other leaping over the snow only to plant himself chest deep with each landing. We hd to giggle at the sight.
As the rain pounded Western Washington throughout November, snow piled up in the mountains and beckoned us for a little snowshoe through the woods - work off some of that turkey from the day before. We took the puppies along as they love to romp in the snow and drove up hwy 410 towards Crystal Mountain.
The Ranger Creek area has several opportunities for recreation throughout the year, one of which is a nice large campground with an emergency airstrip nearby. The airstrip had once been used as an ATV area until the ground was torn up destroying elk habitat. Also, once the ATVers started plaing in the strip, they couldn't hear when a plane needed to land and tragedy did occur with a plane crashing for all the people playing below. The forest service did the only thing they could and forbade off-road vehicles from using the airstrip as a play area. There are still areas in the vicinity where they can play.
But on this day, silence is what greeted us as we stepped out into the freshly carpeted field. A few hardy folks were out camping in their RVs, although, they were keeping themselves warm in the comfort of propane heaters. We were pretty much alone and let the dogs loose for a good hardy romp. Only problem was the snow was deep - up to both dogs' chest (about 15 inches). Olympia, who has a vast experience with snow and snow being one of her favorite substances in the world did her best to plow right through. Pasco, being the wimpier of the two, decided the best way to deal with this frigid substance would be to take it in bounds. So ahead of us were our dogs, one happily trudging her way along and the other leaping over the snow only to plant himself chest deep with each landing. We hd to giggle at the sight.
Once we got to the end of the runway and rested a bit on a stump, we decided to head back toward the car through the woods. Hear the snow wasn't as deep, for it was all waiting in the branches to fall on an unsuspecting hiker ass they passed below. The dogs had no idea what hit them when the first avalanche hit us - this snow was falling in great clumps. They would shake off one batch of snow only to be hit by another immediately following. Michael & I didn't have it much better, showers of snow easily found their way down our necks. It was actually with a bit of relief when we reached the car.
To our surprise, a family had decided to camp where we had parked. Nice people. They were apologetic about setting up camp and encrouching on our parking spot. But to make up for it they made us some hot chocolate and shared their fire. Once we were warm inside and out, we bid them our thanks and farewells.
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