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.

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.

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.

A cabin in the woods...it sounds like the beginnings of a horror story!

 

Instead it was a fun filled day and night!  The family all snowshoed to a cabin in the woods @ Tennessee Pass.  Our cabin slept 8 people and was well equipped (stove, 

 

fireplace, cistern water, solar powered refrigerator, grill, games, blocks, high chair, pack n play, sleds, outhouse).  We strapped on our snowshoes, hefted our heavy back packs, 

 

attached the sled (carrying important supplies),

 

and began our hike in.  It was only about .7 miles to the cabin with a slight uphill tendency.  My little man made it with no problems. 

 

 We melted snow to cook and drink with.

 

A beer or two was consumed that evening.

We took a couple of snowshoes on the Powder Horn trail and the Tree Line trail.  It was very peaceful.

 

It 's a good thing the snow was covering everything and I wasn't tempted to pick up objects from the ground.  Boom!

 

There were two other cabins around us and various other buildings:

 

 

We boiled a lot of water.  Melting snow doesn't equate to much water so we did have to haul quite a few buckets in.  We had sloppy joes and coleslaw for dinner, popcorn for a snack and eggs in a bag for breakfast in the morning.  This was something our friend's had showed us a long time ago on a camping trip.  These were nice since I was able to make each person's eggs to their desired taste.  The day before I read on the web that Ziploc does NOT endorse putting their bags in boiling water but I decided to take my chances since I didn't die the previous time I did it.  The only thing that I needed to remember was to not let the bags touch the edge of the pot (they burn and melt).

I was pleased with the result!

The outhouse was a small walk from the cabin but covered.

Everyone had a great time.  The kids loved rustling around in their sleeping bags and playing in the snow. Everything is always an adventure for them!

Hike: Point Breeze Cabin
Trails Used: Continental Divide Trail
Distance: .73 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.3 mph
Overall Time: 45 min
Total Ascent: 181 ft.

 

 

Hike: Powderhorn Trail
Trails Used: Powderhorn Trail to Continental Divide
Distance: 2.91 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.8 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr., 37 mins.
Total Ascent: 454 ft.

 

Hike: Tree Line Trail
Trails Used: Tree Line to Continental Divide
Distance: 1.86 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 2.0 mph
Overall Time: 56 min
Total Ascent: 340 ft.