Snowshoeing the Blue Lake Trail up the Poudre Canyon

After a long (~ 2 hrs.), curvy drive up the Poudre Canyon (with one kid getting carsick (luckily only a stomach ache)) we made it to our destination.  The Blue Lake Trail is heavily wooded.  There was a good amount of fresh snow on the sides of a well packed down snowshoe trail.  The kids had many opportunities for playing:

There wasn't too much differentiation in colors on this snowshoe but I found this moss hanging from some trees that added a splash of color along the way.

The hubby dug out a hole for the kiddos to sit in and eat their lunch out of the wind.  (This was just a windy day, otherwise it wouldn't have been needed-I think he just wanted to play as well!)

We didn't make it too far but we did manage to have an enjoyable day.  My daughter complained about cold feet so we turned around earlier than expected.  (I do think I got played!)

We saw these sheep on the drive back down.

Snowshoe: Blue Lake

Trails Used:  Blue Lake (up the Poudre Canyon)

Distance:  2.9 miles (it's 5 miles out to the lake)
Difficulty: Easy (the portion we did)
Overall average: 1.2 mph
Overall Time: 2 hr, 25 min
Total Ascent: 394 ft.

Christmas Break is ending...a last blast of fun!

The kids went with the neighbors to Miramont Park for some sledding before school started on Tuesday.  It was cold but fun!

Snowshoeing at the Dredge

We took a snowshoe close to the house.  This is a dredge that was used for mining.

 As you can see it was a gorgeous day!

 The day wouldn't be complete without daddy throwing one of the kids in the snow!

 Break time!

 We took a lot of breaks!  :)

Snowshoe: The Dredge
Trails Used:

Distance:  4.26 miles (the GPS turned itself back on in the car on the way home the graph below is wrong after the line)
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: ~1.7 mph
Overall Time: ~3 hr, 10 min
Total Ascent: ~325 ft.

A good day for sledding!

The sun was out so we took a visit to Carter Park.  This method is called the sandwich and was pretty successful!

The grandparents even got into the action!

Nothing beats a hot tub after a day of skiing!

We didn't even come close to tiring out the little people if they still had this much energy after skiing!  

I don't think she knows what he's up to and she's not going to take her eyes off of him until she figures it out!

 Incoming snowball!

 We all managed to get in there one day!

Beginner skiing at A-Basin

Grandma and Grandpa took the kids skiing at A-Basin.  The first day we started on the magic carpet and the bunny hill (Molly Hogan Lift) to get everyone reacquainted with skiing.  C was an old hat at this but it took Q a couple of runs to get back into the swing of things.  By the end of the morning they were pros!

Hot chocolate break with Grandma!

  We came back for another day and they ventured up the Black Mountain Express Lift (the lines were a bit longer than the Molly Hogan) to try out some blue runs.  They did fantastic and had a great day!

 The hubby and I strapped on our snowshoes 

and hiked up the mountain to visit them at the top and have lunch.

 It was windy but warm enough that it was a perfect day to be up on the mountain.

 By the end of the day everyone was worn out and needed a hot tub!

Snowshoe: A-Basin
Trails Used:  Wrangler & Sundance

Distance:  3.76 miles
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Overall average: 2.3 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr, 40 min
Total Ascent: 1242 ft.