Superb Snowshoeing

Madison (Brad's wife)and I finally ditched the men and went snowshoeing up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Darrell & I got each other some Atlas showshoes for Christmas last year and seeing as how I was pregnant and just a BIT too heavy (ha ha) for the flotation we never went last year. Then, Brad & Madison bought snowshoes this year for Christmas. Both Madison and & I were waiting around for our husbands to go with us, but finally we wised up and realized that wasn't going to happen. So, with Mom as my pinch babysitter, Madison and I headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon in her Subaru Outback (I really felt like we were a couple of granolas). We parked at the Mill D trailhead and suited up in our fancy gear (courtesy of Wasatch Running Center connections) and headed out into the winter wonderland. Despite the little walk we had to take just to get to the powder....the outing was more than expected. The powder was fresh and untouched and thus we did a lot of trail blazing. We were nearly void of mishaps until I lost the basket to one of my trekking poles. Madison and I knew roughly where I had planted my pole and scooped out powder over and over with no luck. Finally I gave into the idea that I just wasn't going to find it, I picked up my poles and out fell the basket into the snow. You would think that as a mother of two I might be a more thorough searcher....but aparently not. We both laughed (although in my mind I was sighing in relief because I knew I had just narrowly missed the wrath of Darrell for ruining the brand new poles). Good fun! It was a great hike and we ended up on a plateau that looked out over endless stretches of snow-kissed wilderness. It was serene and almost spiritual. We pulled out a little beef jerky to refuel the engines and returned to where we started. It was a beautiful outing with tremendous scenery and was a great oppportunity for me to get to know Madison a bit better. I was lucky to have such great company and we were both thrilled to have made use of our dusty snowshoes.