Snowshoe Cinderella
When I moved to Washington state from Hawai’i I was excited for winter and all that it came with. Snow has always fascinated me. A frozen rain that turns into white fluffy flakes and covers everything! I love it, the snow: the peace and quiet it brings, there is something calming about the cold white “rain”....
I had been facing so many punches in life, from personal subjects to my work, my mind had begun to feel overwhelmed. My usual positive personality was darkened with self doubt and worries... I needed an escape, and soon one came.
One day my friend Jackie and I saw that the snow was hitting the mountains up north of us, and we decided it was a perfect opportunity for a hike. Neither of us had been snowshoeing before and we just wanted to get out of the house. We picked a weekend, got our gear, and picked a place. Though I’ve lived in Washington for 3 years, I had no snowshoe gear. A quick run to Costco, and I got a complete snowshoeing kit (snowshoes, and walking poles). Thank you Costco for last minute shopping!
The chosen Saturday morning finally came and Jackie picked Max and I up bright and early. We packed up Jackie’s truck and headed up North to Franklin Falls. About 2 hours later we hit our destination and man was the snow beautiful, and deep. Strapping on our shoes and making sure we were bundled tight we grabbed our packs (and pup), and headed down. Talk about deep, there was probably three - four feet of snow. Coming off the pavement, I sunk all the way down to my hips. Thankfully Max was light on his feet or he’d be a popsicle... But the scenery around us was just gorgeous. The quiet that surrounds you while you’re out in nature, especially in the snow, is like nothing else. I felt at peace, serene.
As we continued our journey, the road started to ease up a bit. Allowing us to remove our snowshoes for the bottom portion of our hike. We relied mostly on our poles to keep us from slipping on the icy road and trail. We barely saw any people on the way down to the falls, but those we did were very respectful at making sure to stay about 6 feet apart. Then there were of course those who eyed us conspicuously since we weren’t wearing a mask. To each their own during physical exercise (sorry peeps).
We continued our trek to the Falls and after 4 miles, we made it! And what a site, though there wasn’t any snow down at the falls, it was still very beautiful. The mist of the falls spraying its cooling waters over our exhausted faces. We took our time to rest and enjoy the view, and then started back up the mountain. Because of the incline, the snowshoes, and well let’s be honest not being in the greatest shape, the trip up was a bit painful. My snowshoe was sadly dysfunctional on the way up. If you haven’t snowshoed before, there’s a heel lift that you can engage to help alleviate strain on your calves while hiking inclines, and mine broke along the way. Understanding that the journey up would be a bit more difficult we took our time and rested often. Thankfully we made it out in decent amount of time, with the sun just starting to go down, and the clouds getting that pale pink glow. By the end we were freezing, and wet. We repacked the gear jumped in the car and headed home. This was definitely a worthwhile trip. It challenged me to find the strength to push on and keep moving forward. With all the snow, and snowshoes, it was about an 8.5 mile round trip journey.
Would I take out the shoes again? Heck yeah, especially now that I’ve gotten the right size and a new pair that has heel lifts!
